More than Myself
by ShootingSparkles
Summary: Charlotte Carlson had a good life- she was a professor at CalTech and a genius to boot. But when Loki threatens Earth with his army, Phil Coulson comes to her for help but not just with research.Like Dr. Banner, Charlotte knows what it's like to not have control, to be a research experiment gone wrong.Together maybe they can realize they're more than what they think. Bruce(Hulk)/OC
1. Chapter 1

1.

"Okay so does everyone understand?" Dr. Charlotte Carlson asked as she turned from the large whiteboard that spanned most of the college lecture hall.

She looked out to her numerous students in the chairs that inclined on a slight hill surrounding her stand. It reminded her of n ancient Greek sound theatre. She frowned slightly as she saw that a good amount of them were staring at her with a vacant expression, slumped across their small desk table. The ones who were listening though, looked so excited it was almost sad.

Charlotte grimaced as the clock ended the class and students bolted out of the lecture room. She knew nuclear physics was not an interesting topic, especially since most of the students in this class wanted to be experimental physicists and were not passionate about nuclear physics.

She ran a hand through her blonde curls and closed her eyes when the door finally clicked. It was Friday, it was Friday. Tomorrow could be spent in her apartment, eating mint chocolate chip ice cream and watching cheesy 80s high school drama-preferably one with a great musical number for no apparent reason. Or, she thought, I could just watch Easy A.

While she was taking off her glasses a man with a brown comb over and a suit strode into her classroom. Charlotte paused in the motion of putting on her laptop bag. So she stood in an awkward position-holding a stack of physics textbooks on her hip, glasses on top of her head and mouth slightly open.

"Hello Dr. Carlson," the man said as he took off a pair of sunglasses he was wearing for some reason.

"Um hello," she replied.

"My name is Agent Phil Coulson from S.H.I.E.L.D.," he said sticking out a hand.

She juggled the books around quickly to shake his hand in return, "S.H.I.E.L.D.? Is that a government agency?"

"To put in laymen's terms it is."

"I don't mean to sound arrogant, but I have two PhD's in Nuclear and Particle Physics, I need a better explanation than laymen's terms," she answered, putting her books and bag down to cross her arms.

She studied him, "You don't work in a government's agency do you?"

"No, we are a separate branch of the government. S.H.I.E.L.D. stands for Strategic Hazard Intervention, Enforcement Logistics Directorate. We deal with other forms of army besides military," Agent Coulson said staring at her intensely,  
"We know what you are, Charlotte."

"You mean who you are?" Charlotte asked walking backwards into her desk feeling around for her cell phone. She was panicking.

"No I know who you are," Agent Coulson said with a smirk, "you are Charlotte Carlson, you indeed have two PhDs, a masters in Engineering and Mathematics, you graduated high school when you were twelve and have an IQ of a the very high number of 195 and you almost won a Nobel Prize."

Charlotte grasped her cell phone, sliding the lock feeling genuinely worried.

"But I know that if you remove that cardigan you have a tattoo spanning your entire back- a pair of feathered, bird wings that come out of your back to form actual wings when your heart races," Agent Coulson explained. Charlotte winced.

"You see that's what we do in S.H.I.E.L.D.," he said with a smirk, "We protect the Earth from supernatural, superhuman events."

"So you have a file on me?" she asked and she waited until he nodded, "Does that file say what happens when I feel angry or threatened."

Agent Coulson widened his eyes as Charlotte's hazel eyes flashed a gold color and her nose looked more pointy, more beak-like.

"We are not here to contain you-"

"That's what the last agent said," her voice slowly growing a squawky noise to it, "And I spent three years in a government facility getting plucked and injected. It ruined my

life, I lost the Nobel Prize because my work had one more point to press, an easy point, I could have won."

At the word won, a sound beam blared from Charlotte's mouth and Agent Coulson stumbled backwards as his hair flew askew and his suit jacket blew behind him.

She felt a full body shudder course through her spine and back. She glared at the agent as she took off her cardigan and groaned in pain as ten foot wings shoot out of her shoulder blades.

"What do you want with me?" she asked.

Agent Courlson regained his cool composure, "We know you started working on the gamma bomb after it was abandoned by Doctor Banner."

Charlotte felt her heart pounding, her eye sight grow sharper and her sense of smell intensified. Her wings flapped, it had been years since she lost control like that. Usually a slightly elevated heart rate would not cause her wings to form but when she got extremely angry, threatened, annoyed or aroused they would form.

Yup. It was a lonely four years. But even before that it was worse. She was bitter, lonely and angry at the government for keeping her problem hushed, for keeping human experimentation hushed.

"You know I'm banned from research, of any kind," she spit out, "listen, I escaped this, I'm not going back."

"Well lucky for you , we don't hire based on emotional or physical stability, just your brains."

"Why not just get Dr. Banner?" she asked with a sarcastic grin, "He's the expert."

"We're on that right now, an agent is on an operative for him, we want another who understands."

"You want me to be his baby sitter," Charlotte said folding her wings up behind her back.

"We need him and you, there is a intergalactic threat to Earth. Director Fury wants to proceed with a team of superhumans," Agent Coulson stated, "People like you, products of science-experiments and research."

"I'm not a product of experiment or research," she spat out with a scathing glare, her wings unfolded and flapped menacingly, "I'm an accident, a research malfunction, I wasn't planned."

"That doesn't make you any less important to S.H.I.E.L.D."

Charlotte took a deep breath, forcing her heart to slow down and her wings to mold back into her back. Placing her cardigan back on and collected her books in her arms. Her back began to ache, she would need to ice that or use a heat compress and her eyesight became fuzzy.

Side effects. Problems she had to face now.

She was contained in a prison of her own being. All that knowledge and thought in her head but she would never be able to get it out there. She tried to publish her work under a nom de plume but the government found out. She tried leaving the country but they found her.

"No, it doesn't make me less important," she stated putting on her glasses, "It makes me a threat you want to eradicate."


	2. Chapter 2

**Authors Note:**

Okay so this is still some background. I've decided that the story will be during and after the Avenger's movie. It will include some of the battle sequence and some romance between my OC and Dr. Banner.

Thank you to all the people that followed and favorited this story! Review are always welcome!

Enjoy!

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2.

Charlotte walked out of the lecture hall quickly, bumping the Agent with her shoulder. She felt the sting of pain course down her entire back. She grimaced walking faster out the doors.

Driving to her apartment in Pasadena her eyesight was strained, even through her glasses her vision blurred and everything slowly became a colored blur. She bit her lip, she needed to get to her apartment before her vision grew worse. This usually lasted for a day but they pain would slowly get worse until it disappeared.

Phil Coulson walked out of the opened elevators of the new Stark Tower. Tony Stark was surprised to see him, almost as surprised as he was to know that Pepper knew his first name-Phil. However, any deeper dwelling on that subject flew away from his mind the second Phil handed him the tablet console.

Tony pulled up the files of these people, these super humans and agents that were to be a part of the Avenger's Initiative Fury was telling him.

With a flick of his figures, the files went to a bigger screen as he watched the Hulk destroy Harlem, Captain America 70 years ago in the second World War, two agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. on some kind of covert mission, and a woman being poked and prodded by needles and men wearing black. He caught a glimpse of a pair of wings before the files were gone and the word 'Still Recruiting' flashed in red.

Huh, Tony thought, these are the other Avengers.

The sound of the running water annoyed Charlotte. This was a side effect that always affect her, her hearing was over compensating for her dropping vision. She had put on her special glasses by the time she got home but every time she looked over the top of the frames was a great blob of fuzz which she knew to be her kitchenette.

She popped two aspirin tablets into her mouth before swigging the water down. She slammed the faucet lever down and put the glass in the sink. Her black cat, Alley, weaved in between her legs as Charlotte sat on the couch.

She put her hands on either side of temples as her eyebrow twitched and her head pounded. She got flashes of memories. Ones of her in a clear glass box, 12 feet by 12 feet, her wings spread out and her eyes flashing gold as her heart pounded in way she couldn't control.

There were men with white lab coats talking to men in black suits who were talking to another man wearing goggles all were staring at her while she looked around at the bright room.

"Time to administer adrenaline B," a man said as he pressed the speaker button in the control room.

A woman wearing an entirely white bodysuit walked into her glass cube with a large needle. Charlotte stared at her wildly, they had been trying to see if they could enact any other power from her. It had been two years and multiple needle sticks. The inside of her right arm was littered with needle marks.

Charlotte backed up into a corner, her wings folded up behind her as the woman approached her. She felt threatened and as she screamed the woman flew from the sound beam, through the glass and into the window of the control room. Charlotte stepped through the hole, beating her wings to start to fly when a shock of electricity coursed through her causing her to black out.

The last thing she heard was, "Well that's new."

From then on they tried different techniques, now focusing on threatening her, scaring her and other things.

The loud rapping of the door startled Charlotte and Alley who was purring on her lap. Charlotte moved her cat as she stood up. Muting the television, the knocking grew louder, sharper and more irritable so, with a huff, Charlotte walked over and opened her apartment door.

Standing in the entry was a bald man with an eye patch and long, leather coat. He had a gaze as sharp as nails and a grimace that made Charlotte nervous for herself. And sort of for her cat as well.

"Hello Dr. Carlson, my name is Director Fury," he said staring at her with his good eye, "and I do not appreciate being said no to."

"Excuse me?" she asked raising an eyebrow.

"My agent came to you with an opportunity to return to your research, and you refused," he said, "Not something I am completely unused to, you are not the first to refuse my job offer."

"I am banned from my research, the government would be on me before you could say nuclear fission reactor," Charlotte said with a sneer, "You and your agency knows that with that file you have on me."

"S.H.I.E.L.D works independently from the government, we're more of a covert spy system, we don't always follow their rules, they're more like suggestions," Fury stated, "and I'm taking your ban as a suggestion I'm going to ignore. Why waste the brain of a woman who almost won the Nobel Prize at age 22 for one accident."

Charlotte stilled at the door. When Phil Coulson came to her at CalTech, she thought he wanted her as a part of his superhuman team to take down this intergalactic threat when she voiced this to Fury the eye patched man laughed.

"Phil is overeager, but a perfectly competent agent, we are apprehending the threat currently, in Germany," Fury said, he paused in the middle of his statement looking at Charlotte expectantly.

She widened her eyes in realization that she had left Fury in her door front as she ushered him in frantically. Alley hissed as Fury walked towards the couch and stalked away as he sat on it.

"I need to know if you are on board with the research project Dr. Carlson," he stated looking up at her as she moved to stand in front of her television which was showing the actors mouthing to the lines of the Titanic.

"Agent Coulson said you already had Dr. Banner. Why do you need me?"

"Dr. Banner is only on board to find the Tesseract," Fury explained, "It is radiating gamma energy that he can track. No mind can compare to that man's knowledge of gamma radiation, not even yours. But he is unstable and he will not help us with Phase 2."

"Phase 2?"

"A new type of warfare. The Council wants S.H.I.E.L.D. to start building a new types of weapons. With Tony Stark out of the weapon business, we need a new genius. We need you."

"I don't want to work for the government," Charlotte sneered, "They took everything away from me, why should I give everything to them. Besides I already tried to help with a new type of warfare and that backfired in every single way possible."

"Yes, Dr. Carlson what you are saying is valid, however, I know you want to go back to your research. I know you wish to be publicized. Dr. Banner may have a brilliant brain but he was nowhere close to winning a Nobel Prize. And there have been so many new advancements in your field of nuclear energy and clean energy itself. I know you will make the right decision to join us Dr. Carlson. It is your only second chance, do not pass this up."

Charlotte bit her lip. At this point she wished she had more relationships with people. She wished her parents hadn't been forced away from her. She smirked at this over her teeth, her parents hadn't been forced, they left on their own accord. Their seemingly perfect daughter hadn't won the Nobel Prize and turned into some freak human bird. So they had another daughter who was slowly becoming their new hope for perfection since she had disappointed them.

She closed her eyes, "Yes, I accept." There. Take that government. They couldn't just take her off the research scene because of one freak accident. She still had a 190 IQ, she still had two PhDs and Masters and she still had the drive to learn. And maybe when the government confiscated her research she had kept a file of it on a drive. And maybe she had been using the CalTech research labs because the man in charge of the physics department was slowly becoming older than old. And maybe she finished her research. So this was her chance to get back on the grid.

The government had prevented her research from being published and from anyone publishing it. It wasn't that important anyway, they said. It wouldn't change the world, they said. As if, Charlotte thought, her research could change nuclear energy. Her breakthrough in nuclear particles and their separation and containment could change the world. People could use this energy in a safer, cleaner way that could replace gasoline as a new, safer way.

Fury gestured towards her own armchair.

He pulled out a tablet from his leather coat pocket and pressed a series of buttons and then a document packet.

"I need you to sign here and initial here and another signature on this line," Fury said not looking up from the tablet, "Confidentiality contract. Say anything, do anything, you so much as tattoo a statement on you back that jeopardizes our institution and S.H.I.E.L.D. will force you to change your name and your face."

Charlotte stilled the pen over the document and widened her eyes but signed nonetheless, "I don't have any room on my back for another tattoo."

She bit her lip as a holographic image of a pulsing blue cube hovered over the tablet.

"This is the Tesseract," Fury said, "It is from an alien planet that will be explained to you in the future. We need to understand it's component because we are not alone, Dr. Carlson. We know of your research in nuclear energy no matter what the government wants to hide. We know you came close to cracking that gamma bomb and helped with a lot of new warfare for the government. We know you can help us, we need to be protected because we are not alone and we are horrible outmatched."

Charlotte's eyes widened from her seat but nodded nonetheless.


	3. Chapter 3

3.

Charlotte walked in behind Fury, well more like scurried. She was wearing a white lab coat with a S.H.I.E.L.D. logo on the side of the lapel. Fury walked into a room, almost like a small control room within a control room. There were already people in it, some sitting, some standing only one other women.

Two men were arguing but Fury stopped it saying, "Dr. Banner is here to locate the Tesseract, I was hoping you might join him."

The room was a bright one with giant, clear touch screens and lights circling the room. Charlotte's breath hitched when she realized that everything was breakable and expensive. If something were to happen her world would shatter under her wings, literally. This was her second chance. CalTech may take her back but she didn't want to be an old, cranky professor.

"This is Dr. Charlotte Carlson, previously the leading researcher in nuclear physics, she will be helping you both."

Charlotte gave an awkward wave and was received with blank stares all around. She didn't blame them. Now they had three scientists working on locating the Tesseract when one of them would have sufficed.

"Previously?" a man with a stylishly trimmed beard asked.

Charlotte winced at the man she had assumed was the Tony Stark she had seen on magazines, newspapers and the Internet. She stared at him. Tony Stark, leading scientist in clean energy. Her research could have helped him so much with the prototype that she was reading about.

"Things happened," Charlotte murmured.

Tony Stark nodded but still held a look of disbelief as he studied her closely.

"Regardless of what it is, it seems awfully like a Hydra Weapon," a man in a spangled uniform said, seemingly oblivious to what had just happened.

What had happened? Charlotte pondered this. Tony Stark had just stared at her as if he could...as if she should...She just couldn't even understand.

What was she doing here? The government was right. They didn't need her research, Tony Stark already had a one up on her. Fury was wrong. Dr. Banner would find the Tesseract but what did he want with her. To build some kind of weapon for Phase 2. Was she really going to build weaponry for the government again? She didn't even know anything about the Tesseract except what Fury told her.

And all Fury told her was that many worlds were fighting for it. And the fact that many worlds exist and Earth was unarmed.

She didn't even understand what was going on.

"I think we should start with the research lab," Tony said, "Dr. Banner, Dr. Carlson."

Charlotte looked over at Fury who nodded and she followed the two scientists clutching her tablet to her chest.

They arrived in a research lab that overlooked the numerous Agents working the mainframe of the carrier, or airplane or ship, whatever this thing was. All she knew was that this thing was flying and Fury kept calling it a ship.

"So Dr. Previously, what are your studies focused on?" Tony Stark asked her.

"Nuclear and particle physics," Charlotte murmured walking over to a research table to the left of the one Dr. Banner was walking to, "But I've got other degrees in Math and Engineering. I got those when I was fifteen and no one would hire me as a researcher."

"Why I haven't I heard of any of your research?" Tony asked.

"Got my research license revoked," Charlotte said adopting a grimace.

"Wait, Dr. Charlotte Carlson, the same one researching the division of nuclear particles for a different source of nuclear energy and use?" Tony asked.

"Yes," Charlotte whispered. She looked down at her tablet on the white table. She tapped the screen, flicking the work onto another bigger screen.

It was a series of equations, diagrams, blueprints and written explanations. Tony Stark looked at it quickly before she took the information off the screen. Charlotte looked up with worried hazel eyes.

Dr. Banner turned to her and smiled warmly. It was a smile that shouldn't have made her feel so warm or special.

"Why did your license get revoked?" Dr. Banner asked.

"An accident," Charlotte answered, "Actually, the military called on me to finish up your work with the gamma bomb. The military is full of fools to think they could contain that much radiation."

Dr. Banner looked stricken, "An accident."

"Yes," Charlotte answered looking at him directly in the eye to end the conversation.

She reached under her table to pull out the radiation detector and handed it to Dr. Banner.

He fussed with the wires before scanning the scepter saying, "The gamma radiation levels are off the charts."

Tony stared at her before opening his own type of tablet before saying, "If we bypass the mainframe we can clock this at 6 terabytes."

"Wow, all I packed was a toothbrush," Banner said lifting an eyebrow over at his work station.

"They wouldn't even let me bring my toothbrush," Charlotte said with a twist of her mouth.

"You know Banner, you should come over to Stark Tower, the first 10 floors, all R & D," Tony said coming over to Bruce's side of the lab, "You could as well Carlson. I know your working for S.H.I.E.L.D. and all but if you want to explore new job opportunities that do not include working for spies, your brain is always welcome in my tower."

Bruce and Charlotte shared a look before Bruce said, "It might not be a good idea, the last time I was in New York, I broke Harlem."

Charlotte's eyes widened. She had read about Bruce's after affects of his own gamma bomb accident. But she had read about it after her own. It made her feel disgusted that she had ventured into a project that ended in an accident that happened before.

She bit her lip. She had her crazy reaction to the high levels of gamma, but Bruce's was worse. She just sprouted wings but Bruce turned into a rage monster he couldn't control. She wondered what that was like for him. She couldn't imagine that for anyone.

"Don't worry, I promise a stress free environment, of course," Tony said before jabbing a shock rod into Bruce's side.

Bruce flinched and yelped as Tony got close to his face to see his reaction.

"Hey," the spangled man, Captain America Charlotte guessed, walked in, "Is everything a joke to you? You need to take this thing more seriously."

"I am," Stark said walking around to his research table, "Why did Fury call us here? What does he need with us to do once we find the Tesseract?"

"You think he's keeping a secret?" Captain America asked.

"The man's a spy, he's THE spy, his secrets have secrets, he's up to something a different plan," Tony said, gesticulating wildly with his hands, "He wouldn't have called in Little Miss Sunshine if he hadn't, she's a research scientist. What does he want to research?"

Captain America looked at her and Charlotte stiffened at her work bench. Her eyes widened. She knew what Fury wanted to do with her. She opened her mouth to voice this but remembered the confidentiality agreement she had signed. Did that extend for other members of Fury's top secret team?

"It's bugging him too," Tony said.

He and Captain America stared at Bruce who just twitched, "I just want to finish my work here and..."

"No Doctor, please, tell us your opinion," Captain America said.

Bruce sighed, "It is kind of strange. I mean he didn't need me here. Tony already has an arc reactor self sustaining Stark Tower for what one year?"

"Yeah it's just a prototype," Tony said dismissively, "I'm kind of the only name in clean energy right now."

Charlotte frowned and stared at her hands.

"Why didn't they just call in Stark, why do they need information on nuclear energy?" Bruce asked, "And why do they need a scientist that specializes in research of nuclear energy?"

"JARVIS is breaking into their mainframe right now, all their dirty little secrets will be ours to know," Tony said.

Charlotte watched as Captain America walked out of the research lab. She bit her lip and focused on her tablet and tracking the radiation levels the Tesseract was emitting.

There was a commotion outside as armed guards walked pass the research lab surrounding a man wearing green armor, but different than the other man Fury told her was named Thor. Of a realm called Asguard. A freaking alien or extra terrestrial or Norse freaking God. The man in green looked over at Bruce and grinned, a crazed look on his face. It was like a cross between Heath Ledger's joker and Dr. Hannibal from Silence of the Lambs.

"Well that was weird," Tony commenting. He really didn't have boundaries.

"Weird? That?" Charlotte scoffed, "This whole thing is weird. We're on a flying boat, I just met an alien or a god or whatever that man is, and realized that there are other aliens and for some reason they want to attack Earth, just yesterday and decided it would be smart to just dive into this head first. No Mr. Stark that was the least bit weird."

Charlotte took a deep breath and decided to change the subject, "Dr. Banner, I'm a big fan of your work. One of the reasons I agreed to accept the military's offer was the fact you had worked on it. They never told me anything else-just the fact Dr. Banner had abandoned his studies. And I had practically jumped at the chance to read your notes."

"But you knew why I had abandoned my work, why pick up a mad man's trash?" Dr. Banner asked.

"What happened to you was an accident, you had no say in what was going to happen," Charlotte said, "But Dr. Banner, you were heroic. You knew the levels of gamma radiation could have killed you but you were still the only one that rushed to save that boy. I think you are amazing."

Bruce looked up at her, her hazel eyes shining with admiration. No one had ever looked at him that way. They saw the Other Guy and that was it. They didn't realize what had happened and they didn't care what happened to him. She was the first who saw him as a human being not just some ticking bomb.

Charlotte reached over to touch Bruce's arm tentatively. There were the cliché little sparks. It wasn't like lightening like all those cheesy romance novels suggested. It was a warm feeling that felt like some kind of connection. Charlotte liked that. Bruce offered a tentative smile and Charlotte returned it warmly.

"I have a question though, about the Other Guy, if you'll allow it," Charlotte asked, swallowing softly.

Bruce looked at her expectantly, and Tony too looked intrigued.

"How do you keep your pants on when you transform?" she asked that with a small smile.

Tony let out a full blown laugh and Bruce smiled softly, "I wear baggier pants, to compensate."

Charlotte smiled at him. That made sense to her. When she wore tank tops, they had to be racer back to leave her shoulder blades open for any potential transformations.

"Dr. Carlson, I need you in the control room," Director Fury's voice echoed through her earpiece. It was extra loud for her, the side effects still lingered. She still had to wear her special glasses. They didn't look that different, they were just thicker and squarer.

"Excuse me," she said exiting the labs.


	4. Chapter 4

**Author Note:**

Latest update, nearing the battle scene of the Avengers. It WILL extend to an after the Avengers thing. Hints of romance. I'm not a big fan of like seeing someone and loving them like once. Charlotte admires him, and he admires her. They aren't in love yet...just want to clarify that.

But anyway, thank you for the favorites and follows and the reviews it's really awesome!:)

Enjoy

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4.

Bruce watched as Charlotte walked out of the research lab. She looked at him differently than others did. He remembered Natasha's look of fear whenever she glanced at him. He then compared it to Charlotte's look of admiration and the fact he looked him at him like a normal man.

She was a good looking woman too. She was a medium height of five foot five, just below the average height of women in America, had curly blonde hair and her eyes that just looked at Bruce with admiration. She didn't even spare Tony a look like that. Even if Tony was in a monogamous relationship, it didn't stop the propositions he received. But the thing was, she wanted to talk to him. Even though she knew about the...Other Guy.

"I can't wait till be bust this guy," Tony murmured.

"Maybe you'll be suiting up with us," Bruce muttered fiddling with the touch screen, "I don't have a suit, it's more like a nerve leaving me exposed, vulnerable."

"You know this," Tony said tapping his small arc reactor, "Is the only thing keeping me alive right now. It's like a nerve, a terrible privilege."

"It's different though, you can control it."

"You know, Carlson was right, that much radiation should have killed you."

"So you're saying that the Other Guy 'saved' my life?" Bruce asked in disbelief, "From what?"

"I guess we'll find out, but from what I gathered, if you had died during the exposure, you probably wouldn't have met Little Miss Doctor Carlson."

Bruce flushed and Tony snickered.

"You wanted to see me Director Fury?" Charlotte asked walking up to a circle platform, his control platform where he ordered people around. She almost smirked as she saw him turning to look at each side of the screens.

"Yes how are you doing with locating the Tesseract?"

"Well we've locked on its radiation trail and Dr. Banner and Mr. Stark are tracing the area for a match," she supplied.

"Very good, once we find the Tesseract we will be dropping you off at the research facility in California so you can proceed with Phase Two," Fury said.

"What exactly is Phase Two?" Charlotte asked.

Fury opened his mouth to say something before Black Widow came from a side saying something about the Hulk, a warning, and Loki's plan.

"Wait, who's Loki?" Charlotte asked. What the hell is going on outside the research lab?"

"Loki, he stole the Tesseract, planning something devious, adopted brother of Thor, killed eight hundred people in two days," Black Widow rattled off walking pass Charlotte, "Did they tell you anything?"

"No," she called out. Why the hell was she here? Fury just said something about dropping her off back in California why was she on this freaking floating boat? She thought she would be conducting her research here.

Charlotte shook her head walking in the direction away from the research labs. All of the Avengers and Director Fury were in there and it looked heated. She stumbled upon a big circle room with a large glass container in the middle. The man that had given off a creepy vibe.

He stared at here with wonder.

"Dr. Carlson, are you in the containment room?" Director Fury asked her.

Charlotte pressed a finger on her ear communicator, "Yes."

"Watch Loki," he said. Charlotte heard the voices of Tony Stark and Captain America. They were probably fighting.

"So this is what you mortals have reached," the man in green said with a sarcastic smile, "to have me watched by the research scientist. No superpowers to claim, no special talents other than brains, no muscle, no power."

"Loki, God of Mischief from Asgard, I presume?" Charlotte asked, "Honestly, if anyone knows anything about not having brawn but having brain and being powerful, it's you."

Loki stared at her and cocked his head to the left.

"But then again, you did have the audacity to mother a horse," Charlotte mused thinking back to the college course she took on mythology, "So there goes your brain. You're not powerful at all."

How dare he look down at her like that. Last time she checked he was the one caged up.

"You know, S.H.I.E.L.D. is not the only one with files on you, I know about your research, I know about your bitterness," Loki said.

Charlotte stiffened. He had a file on her too, "Really know?"

"Yes Barton told me everything Fury told him," Loki said with a smirk, "You do know that S.H.I.E.L.D. can't do anything to gain your research back. Doing this, searching for the Tesseract, they are going against the Council and the Council is the government."

"I think you should get your information in check," Charlotte said, "the Council came up with the idea for Phase 2. You can't manipulate me with your silver tongue."

Charlotte realized that Fury had been true to his part of the deal. She was a research scientist and a research scientist alone. She had heard murmurs, and Agent Coulson had told her about this Avenger's Initiative.

Charlotte's eyes widened. That was why Fury didn't drop her off at California right away. She understood his plan. If things went sour he would want her on his 'team'. Her eyes grew steeled. Fury has a hidden agenda and now she knew. She looked at Loki and he gave her a snide, toothy smile. He knew she knew, he had manipulated her when she thought he hadn't.

But there was something more in his grin. He had a plan, too. Things were about to go sour.

_Back in the research lab:_

"What is this Phase 2?" Tony asked Director Fury, "You want to build weapons for S.H.I.E.L.D. using the Tesseract?"

"The Tesseract does not belong on Earth, you mortals do not know how to handle its energy," Thor bellowed.

"Is that why Dr. Carlson is here?" Tony asked, "Does she know you are stealing the Tesseract for her to harness? I don't think she does, if she did I don't think she would have come."

"She would have, she needs her research to be published," Fury said.

"Well where is she? I will offer her a job at Stark Tower right now," Tony said challenging.

"Petty mortals, I thought you were more evolved than this," Thor sneered.

The argument broke out in the research lab and unknowing to them that Loki's minions were breaking into the ship boat.

Charlotte stared at Loki who was just smirking at her. Suddenly, an explosion sounded somewhere, shaking the boat. She stumbled slightly, reaching down to pick up the tablet she dropped. The ferocious sound of a growl or roar filled the boat.

Bruce, he had Hulked out. She looked up at Loki who wore a self satisfied look. This was his plan, this was how he planned on making this go sour. He didn't say anything about knowing about her own superhuman abilities, Barton didn't know or did he?

Charlotte cast one last look at Loki before running off to the noises and roars she was hearing. She found Thor swinging his hammer around as a giant, muscular green rage monster of Dr. Banner swung brutishly at Thor. Thor was hitting the Hulk repeatedly with his hammer as the Hulk raged on.

Her eyes widened in shock as she ran over to the fight unfolding. She had studied the Hulk after her own accident and when she left the government research facility. The Hulk was a rage monster, the chemical makeup of everything primal in human beings. The Hulk probably felt incredibly threatened by the enclosed space, the fact another person was hitting him with a hammer or the fact the Hulk was encountering something that was the same strength as him.

"What are you doing?" Charlotte cried, "He is not an animal!"

Thor paused to look at her before Hulk hit him into a stack of crates. Charlotte ran up in front of the Hulk slowing into a walk as she approached him.

"What the hell are you doing?" She heard a woman's call out and immediately recognized it as Black Widow's.

Performing an experiment Charlotte muttered in her head. She struggled to keep her heart rate down, she felt a slight ache in her back but nothing bad enough to sprout wings.

"Bruce," Charlotte said with a lilt.

The Hulk growled in her face so she amended her statement, "Hulk?"

The Hulk grunted and Charlotte gave him a warm smile. She had figured that everyone called him Bruce and if Bruce didn't want to be associated with this green monster than how did the green monster feel about being associated with Bruce?

It was a classic Dr. Jekyll - Mr. Hyde and even though Charlotte didn't like English literature in the slightest, preferring mathematics-naturally, she understood the fundamentals of the story. Mild mannered Mr. Hyde had an experimental accident and yielded Dr. Jekyll. Neither wanted any association with each other but had to learn to deal with each other.

"Do you think you could give us Dr. Banner back, Hulk? We need him to help us with the Tesseract," Charlotte said holding up her hands soouthingly.

The Hulk stared at her and Charlotte held her breath but then Thor shot out of the crates with his magical hammer in tow and he hit the Hulk with every bit of godly power he had. Charlotte fell to the ground on impact. Black Widow came out of the shadows and towed her out of the room.

She wrenched herself out of Black Widow's grasp and glared at her, "I had everything under control!"

"You can't control that thing," Widow told her in her stiff voice.

"Not with that attitude," Charlotte said.

Her heart was beating but more in a Dr. Banner's smile speed not a I'm going to sprout some wings spead. Her senses started heightening, something that happened first but never noticed by Charlotte since her transformation usually happened all at once. She felt eyes on her and Widow. Charlotte's eyes flittered and her necked twitched as she turned her head with small movements. Her ears, still heightened from her previous transformation, detected a clink of metal.

She quickly went through her mental catalog of sounds. It was either a switch, a button but her common sense told her it was a weapon.

Charlotte heard a swish and grabbed Black Widow pulling her to the metal ramp on the side of the ship. A sharp thwack sounded. Charlotte looked up spying an arrow embedded on the metal wall just where she Widow was standing.

Her brow furrowed in confusion as Widow whispered, "Clint."

Charlotte turned a questioning look at her before Widow snapped out of some trance and said, "Go, protect yourself, we'll handle this."

Charlotte opened her mouth to question but stopped at Widow's persistent stare. She stood up and walked quickly over to a control room where all the computers were down. Fury was in there speaking to Agent Hill.

"What is going on?" Charlotte asked.

"Another thing, Fury, you brought a civilian on board with no previous training," Agent Hill said.

Charlotte put her hands on her hips. Fury looked at Charlotte saying, "Loki's forces have come aboard the ship, which is why I need the sun put on the left."

She was soon forgotten as Fury stormed angrily to the command center.

"Sir, the Hulk and Thor are destroying the left hanger," an agent said.

"Well someone take a jet and distract the Hulk," Fury said.

"How will that help?" Charlotte said indignantly, "You can't try and treat him like a caged animal, that will not help anything."

"Dr. Carlson, I assure you more capable hands are taking care of this," Fury said.

She scowled, she knew what he was saying. Loki implied it. This was the situation, it had gone sour now Fury wanted her on his team. But she wouldn't join a team that tried to contain something that couldn't, shouldn't be tamed. So she left the control center back to the hanger.


	5. Chapter 5

**Author's Note:**

This one's a doozy. Bruce and Charlotte closeness. My take on why Bruce decided to fight at New York.

Again, thanks for all the reviews, favorites and follows, means alot! And I love you for it!

Enjoy!

* * *

5.

Charlotte came into the hanger, seeing a jet rise slowly and fire at Hulk. She watched, her eyes widening and her heart stilled watching the Hulk jump at the jet firing at him. She ran to the side, her heart pounding and she did nothing to stop it. The pilot ejected but Hulk grabbed him, releasing him as the plane fell.

Charlotte took off her lab coat as her back ached and shook. Like always she was wearing a racer back tank top leaving her more of her shoulder blades open than camis. Which was a big help because her heart beat quickly, too quickly and she felt her muscles stretching, bones shifting and skin breaking as the tattoos on her back formed great feathery wings.

The wings stretched spanning a great length and she ran out of the boat ship following the Hulk's spiraling path downward.

"What the hell do you think you're doing Carlson?" Fury shouted in her earpiece.

"Saving one of your Avengers," Charlotte shouted over the wind. Her heart was pounding with adrenaline and her body was angled at the Hulk who was roaring downward, not seeing her yet.

She watched as the green monster crashed into a barn leaving a large hole in the middle of the roof. Charlotte spread her wings out as a parachute and landed on a the ledge of the hole. The Hulk was...knocked out, so it only took miles and miles of falling to do the job. She jumped off the farm house, beating her wings to land softly on the ground.

She heard the scream of shock from a man, presumably one that had stumbled upon the little mishap in the barn. She cursed under her breath as she folded up her wings behind her. Her heart was still beating too fast from the fall, she had no hope of losing the wings.

Well, she thought, this guy was about to get the shock of his life. Walking into the barn, an old man in a uniform was staring at the Hulk with wide eyes and a frail looking hand over his heart. When he heard her step in, he looked relieved then the wide eyes expression returned. She reached a hand behind her back to touch one of her feathery wings.

"Are you both," the old man said backing up into the back exit, "aliens?"

"I'm not," Charlotte said, holding up her hands, still slightly shaking from her flight, "My name is Charlotte Carlson and once my green friend turns back to a human we will be on our way and fully prepared to pay for the damages done to your barn."

He quickly turned from Charlotte to the Hulk then back to Charlotte, "I'll get some clothes for him for when he turns back."

He exited the barn quickly as Charlotte walked to sit next to the Hulk's great, green foot. She stretched her shoulders and her wings followed on impulse, stretching out at flapping slightly. She winced as she felt the wind from her wings rustle her hair. She stared at the Hulk, who started looking more like Bruce in this knocked out, unconscious state. Threading her fingers through her hair to get out the tangles, she decided it would be best to braid her hair to be easier.

She snorted as her brain began to analyze her actions like it never had in English class when writing book reports. Charlotte's brain suddenly took the reins and an annoying voice whispered in her head that she always took the easy way out.

She had took the easy way out of having her research license revoked by just accepting her position of teaching when she should be the one coming up/ discovering things that should be taught instead of the one teaching them. Sure she had tried once to fool the government by having a penname but once that failed she just gave up and settled into her new, monotonous, uneventful teaching position. She never tried to petition the government, never tried to explain to them that the accident would not have been able to be stopped.

That much gamma could not have been contained, which was why the government had hired her in the first place. The particles were separating too quickly and an explosion had resulted, leaving no one but her with any noticeable side effects.

She had always felt like she was obligated to take the easy way out of things. She had suffered the most so she didn't have to make anything else hard for herself. But as she looked at the Hulk, and Bruce too for the most part, stuck in an infinite battle for complete control. She knew Bruce never wanted to relinquish control and she assumed that the Hulk wanted to see the light of day, away from the confines of Bruce's mind.

Watching the Hulk/ Bruce and imagined the battle the two must be engaging in for total control and decided that it was Bruce, not her, that deserved the easy way out.

Charlotte remembered clearly reading about Bruce's accident, what had happened but skipping the details and finally coming to the conclusion that Bruce Banner had not been banned from his research. And she was jealous.

But in imagining his struggle made her less jealous. It made her realize that she had been self-loathing. She didn't turn into a giant, green rage monster, all she did was sprout wings, which in her adrenaline filled state, were admittedly not as horrible as she had made them out to be.

Charlotte got up and started pacing.

Maybe this was why she felt such a connectedness with Dr. Banner. They were both forced to deal with something that was forced onto them. Something that had been an accident, they hadn't wanted it. Something that knocked that knocked them off their path of life.

Charlotte was in a four year relationship, before the accident, with a boy she had tutored in college. He was a history major, completely average yet out of place at a technology institute, but was accepted nonetheless, even though he was terrible at science, which was where she came in. Charlotte had tutored him for four months before he asked her out and dated until the accident had caused the government to use her as a test subject.

When she got out three years later, he had welcomed her back with open arms. But apparently, her 'side effects' that arose when her heart pounded extended to sex induced heart pounding as well. Which had, needless to say, freaked out her boyfriend. He said he couldn't deal with this and needed time to process this. To which she responded with the fact she was the one who needed to process this. He rebottled saying he couldn't deal with her sprouting wings during sex or an argument. It was back in the days where she couldn't control her heart rate as well as she could not, so she broke up with him, starting her spiral into self loathing and blame toward the government.

Charlotte wondered if Bruce had a life of dreams and hopes and love. She wondered if that had gone sour because of his accident.

The man with the uniform came back to the barn, "Can I get you anything?"

Charlotte looked over at the man, deciding in that moment that her self-loathing would be over, "Do you have a computer, laptop or tablet?"

"All the security guards are issued a tablet instead of clipboard now, damn 21st century, it was all simpler back in the good old days," the guard said, "I'll get you that tablet."

Now with a tablet, Charlotte took off her long chained necklace. She looked at the large rhinestone pendant and uncapped it. A flash drive head came into view in her hand. Plugging it in the USB port, the file with all her research came up along with another file called JARVIS.

Charlotte smirked silently. Tony Stark, arrogant man, the only name in clean energy thought he was being subtle when he implanted his chip into S.H.I.E.L.D.'s mainframe. While his computer technology had hacked through S.H.I.E.L.D.'s mainframe, she had plugged in her flash drive as well and using some fancy tech tricks a fellow genius at CalTech showed her, her own technology had 'hitched a ride' on Stark's. So what his JARVIS had picked up from S.H.I.E.L.D.'s computer had installed itself onto her flash drive.

She tapped on the file and S.H.I.E.L.D.'s logo came up on the tablet immediately. Scrolling through the files, bypassing the encrypted ones and tapped in the one labeled Phase 2.

A hologram of the Tesseract floated in front of her. She checked the back of the tablet noticing the slight sheen to it, government issued. The security guard probably didn't even know he was in possession of the latest model of a tablet. She read quickly read about the alien cube. She read how it did not belong to Earth and how S.H.I.E.L.D. wanted to harness it's power to use against its owner. So they had stolen the Tesseract and now wanted to build weaponry with it.

Her eyes widened, Fury wanted her to build weaponry with it. He was putting her in the line of fire. If those aliens learned who was using their energy to make weapons to use against them, they would go after them specifically along with S.H.I.E.L.D. Was she expendable, was that it? Was it because she wouldn't join their super secret boy band group?

Charlotte slid her finger across the screen tapping the next file which read Avenger's Initiative. One by one the different members files came onto the screen.

First was Captain America, the first Avenger. Real Name: Steven Rogers. It gave his powers, super human strength, agility, etcetera, etcetera. She read that the experiment that had given him this strength was voluntary and conducted by Mr. Howard Stark, ah a relative of Mr. Tony Stark.

She went to Iron Man, real name Tony Stark, no surprise there. Then Black Widow, assassin, real name: Natasha Romanov. Next, Hawkeye, archer, real name: Clint Barton. Thor, Norse god, real name: Thor. She snorted at that.

Her eyes widened as she read the Hulk, green, rage monster, real name: Dr. Bruce Banner. So that was why Fury wanted both Banner and Stark. Not to locate the Tesseract but to include both of them on the ship boat. She wondered if Bruce knew about his position on the team. She understood where Fury was coming from though, the Hulk's strength was unparallel, even to a god. This could help him unite himself with the Hulk, something he needed to look at.

She was about to close the file when something else popped up, another personale on another Avenger member. All it said was: Still Recruiting. She tapped it quickly and JARVIS delved deeper into the encryptions and firewalls.

She wondered if this technology somehow knew she was using it and was telling Mr. Stark.

"Mr. Stark," JARVIS's programmed British voice spoke to Tony while he was in his suit, "There is an unknown virus conjoining with my mainframe to hack S.H.I.E.L.D.'s would you like me to delete it?"

"Someone was able to hack into my own technology and I'm just figuring this out know?" Tony asked, "Is it Loki's cronies?"

"No, sir, the flash drive's location is still being tracked but I can send you what they are searching for," JARVIS said.

The Avengers were all lining up to go down to New York and Tony was only half paying attention to Steve going all old school on the pilot by watching the search of this unknown hacker. They were searching the Avenger's Initiative project's file, specifically the one that Tony had yet to hack-the one that said still recruiting. She watched the file transfer load but then the transfer went black.

"I am sorry Sir, but I have been detected and the hacker has overrode my transition to you and is now using my technology independently from government issued technology, which is why it is undetectable," JARVIS said.

"Son of a bitch," Tony muttered.

Charlotte smirked again, she had overrode JARVIS and beaten Stark. She knew that if Earth wasn't being threatened at this point, he would have been able to fight back and win, but he was focused on other things so she watched the transfer load. Once at 100% complete she was shocked to find her own name in white block letters, with the list of her abilities and locations and everything about her past.

She looked up in shock, fixating on nothing, she was the last member of the Avengers. That's why Fury didn't just drop her off at the research base in California, he wanted her there when everything went sour.

He knew this was going to happen. He had faith in them. They were lost souls wandering the Earth. All pushed off their path of Life. But she realized it wasn't a cause for self loathing. It was a cause to fight. To create a new path for themselves.

Charlotte was distracted by her thoughts when Hulk started turning back into Bruce. Once back in human form he began coughing. She ran to the security guard and he went to Bruce first with clothes. She waited outside the barn before going in. She felt her wings twitch and realize she had not tried to bring them back in her back.

"Bruce?" Charlotte asked.

"Charlotte?" He replied, looking up at her in surprise, then in her wings in shock.

Charlotte smiled softly, "You weren't the only one who got a souvenir from the gamma bomb."

Bruce got up from the rubble, dusting himself off.

"Turns out that I'm the last one of this Avenger's Initiative," she said with a small laugh.

"What?" Bruce asked.

"Apparently, Fury knew that Loki was going to escape," Charlotte said holding out the tablet for him, "You were right, Fury could have just brought in Tony. You and I, we were there for when this went sour."

"But I'm not a super hero, I don't have a suit, I'm not a hero," Bruce protested holding the tablet back to her.

"Neither am I, Bruce, I can't even wear a proper suit because of my wings," Charlotte said offering a small smile, "And I can't imagine the extend of the war that must go on inside your mind for control, but I can at least offer more sympathy than others. And I'm here to tell you that it doesn't have to be a war. The Hulk can be controlled to a degree, I was almost able to have him relinquish power back to you. We CAN be heroes, Bruce."

Bruce opened his mouth to protest but Charlotte put her hands on his hands, "It's not a cause for self loathing. Yes, we can't control it and yes, we didn't ask for it, but we can damn well use it to help people."

"I can't control it, I don't want to," Bruce said, "I destroyed a major part of New York, Charlotte, not even the military could stop me."

"Because you and Hulk were at war with each other," Charlotte said, "You both have to share the same mind, learn to unite yourself, because you were once capable of doing great things and I think you still can Bruce. I said once that I admired you and I still do. Hulk and all."

"You and I, huh?" Bruce said with a sarcastic grin, "Lab experiments gone wrong, two lost souls fighting with other lost souls against lost souls. Avengers huh? Avenging ourselves for what could have been."

"Well you know," Charlotte said, "It's not like we have anything better to do."


	6. Chapter 6

**Author's Note:**

This is more action than romance. But the end of the movie is coming to an end then the romance will start up. I needed some intro to Charlotte's power and her understanding relationship between her and Bruce.

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6.

Captain America jumped in the air, upon reflex, when a Chitauri shot at him. The blast of alien plasma ricocheted off his shield and into another alien standing near.

Natasha shot her guns from behind a fallen taxi quickly ducking back down when the Chitauri started firing back with their blue lasers. She looked over her shoulder at Clint who was firing arrows with scary precision. He looked over at her, their eyes locked and he shot an alien without looking.

Suddenly, the sounds of sirens filled the air already cluttered with the noise of explosions, crumbling buildings and falling cars. Captain America turned to look at the seven cars pull up to the fallen taxi Natasha was located behind.

"What the hell is going on?" the officer asked surveying the aliens turning his city into rubble.

A man in a spangled suit and blue mask holding a circular shield, also spangled jumped in front of them pointing into the distance, "I need you to form a perimeter around the city, no more than 39 yards and I need you to station your men at each point. I also need some of you to go into buildings to check for people trapped inside."

"Why the hell should I listen to you?" the chief police officer said defiantly. He wasn't going to take orders form a man in tights.

But then a group of aliens advanced on the parked patrol cars but the spangled man fought them off with his shield and a series of intricate fighting moves.

The officer widened his eyes, shock apparent on his face before turning towards his men, "Get me a 39 yard perimeter and some officers in the fallen buildings, now!"

Steve surveyed the city being polluted with the Chitauri aliens. He watched Hawkeye and Widow fight in their own poisonous duo of a battle, Thor was off somewhere probably fighting a personal battle with Loki-a sibling spat, and Tony was somewhere taking off the aliens one by one in the sky. While they were fighting their hardest, they were barely leaving a dent in the multitude of aliens swarming. He turned to look at the portal spewing more and more aliens.

They needed more man power. They needed Dr. Banner to come from where ever he landed back during the Hellicarrier incident. But more specifically they need the brute strength of the Hulk.

"We're outnumbered, where is Banner and the Hulk when you need them?" Tony's voice sounded through the earpiece in Steve's ear.

"Don't worry he'll come," Steve said but even he could hear the doubt that had leaked into his voice after saying these words.

"If you say so Cap," Tony said.

Steve rolled his eyes at Tony's mocking tone, "Can you distract the Chitauri in the sky? Give them a reason not to land. We're outnumbered and Thor's off in his personal battle with Loki."

"On it," Tony confirmed, "Say, what happened to Dr. Carlson? Fury said she was hiding in the research lab during the whole incident."

"Well what would you do in that situation if you were a smaller than average height mortal with no super power?" Steve asked running over to a fallen car.

"You just described me," Tony said with a scoff, "I built myself a super suit."

Steve rolled his eyes again checking in the car to make sure there was no one trapped under it or anything. He heard the menacing noise of a dozen Chitauri aliens so he turned around slowly and sure enough there were a dozen or so aliens staring into his soul with their masked faces.

He proceeded to fight them off with his shield but other aliens joined them. Steven jumped over the fallen car hiding behind it buying himself some time.

A sudden darkness came over him quickly before it left. He heard something land in front of the car he was hiding behind. He peered over and saw a woman with wings right before she screamed out a screech that could rival any bird of prey and win. The aliens fell back, knocked out by the loud sound boom that exploded from the small woman.

Charlotte turned around to smile at Steve who was staring at her in shock.

"Bruce is coming soon, he refused to take a faster way," Charlotte said with a small eye roll.

Steve just stared at her, mostly directed towards her wings and golden eagle eyes and smiled softly, "Lab experiment gone wrong."

Charlotte looked over in the sky to where Tony was flying as quick as he could with a horde of aliens trailing him. She took a deep breath, her throat feeling weird after using it for more than just 'self defense' it was the first time in years that she used it to disarm someone. In the experiments the government conducted, there were different levels of intensity and direction. She could create a sound boom that surrounded her or she could direct the pulses towards a target.

It was complicated but it felt almost like second nature. Which terrified her. Naturally of course. It was something she hated about her, like a growth she couldn't get rid of. But now she was utilizing it to her advantage. It was weird like shaking out the tingles of a limb that had fell asleep.

"We need to reconvene later to get a solid plan," Charlotte said still staring at Tony.

Steve said nothing but nodded, still kind of shocked.

Charlotte glanced at him, giving him a salute before pushing off and flying the direction of Tony and his horde of followers.

"What the hell just happened?" Steve said echoing the chief officer's earlier statement. He was still trying to wrap his head around the fact Dr. Carlson had a superhuman trait. She had wings.

He shook his head running over to Widow and Hawkeye who were trying to save the passengers of a fallen down bus.

Tony flew right and left frantically to shake off the aliens flying behind him.

"Mr. Stark, I'm detecting an oncoming force, installing reverse camera," JARVIS said and a camera popped up on the screen of Tony's helmet.

A winged creature, almost female looking, flew in front of the trailing aliens emitting a loud screech that caused a pulsating sound beam that caused the aliens to either drop out of the sky or fall slightly off course.

Charlotte turned around flying over to Tony's side. She saw his helmet turn towards her and she gave him a salute with a teasing smile.

"Well, well, well," Tony's voice sounded in the earpiece she had turned back on once she landed to Captain America's aid, when did Little Dr. Sunshine sprout wings and learn to fly?"

"Probably before you built your suit of metal," Charlotte responded cheekily.

"So I'm guessing you didn't go hiding in the research lab once Loki's minions broke into the Hellicarrier, huh?" Tony asked.

"Nope jumped right out to help Bruce, you know after he turned back human," Charlotte said.

"Bet you helped him out real good," Tony teased.

Charlotte rolled his eyes veering away quickly taking half of the alien horde with her. She flickered her eyes around trying to figure out how to get these Chitauri off her tail.

She used her flexibility as a guide, angling downward toward the pavement. But in the last second she angled her body upward with a sweeping motion. She heard the sound of the aliens hit the dirty pavement of New York City and the one pesky alien in the back that had out maneuvered it was hit by an arrow, courtesy of Hawkeye.

She landed next to him and he looked at her with a smirk, "Birds of a feather, stick together."

Charlotte laughed and Natasha said, "I'd never have expected it, but I knew you were special."

Thor landed behind them with a loud thud before sweeping his hammer killing two aliens at once.

He walked over with a pissed off look on his face over to Charlotte, Widow, and Hawkeye, nodding once at them. He looked over at Charlotte and a small look of shock passed over his face before a smirk took over. Tony landed next to them straightening up with a metal creek. Captain America came, completing their group of six as they surveyed the destruction taking over the city.

"When did you say Banner was coming?" Tony asked.

"Hopefully soon," Charlotte said, suddenly looking nervous at the amount of aliens that were still pouring out the portal.

The sound of a motorbike passed through their ears. Charlotte watched with a smirk as Bruce dismounted his bike and walked over to their group.

He smiled at Charlotte who returned it with that same admiring look, "I heard you needed some more man power."

Steve smiled before growing serious, "Hawkeye I need you to find a perch and just take them off one by one, Thor keep an eye out for Loki but continue to pummel it, Widow you and I need to find the source of this portal."

"I found the source at the roof at the building, I just need a boost," Widow said seriously.

Suddenly, a giant metal snake emerged from the portal turning, somewhat fluidly through the air coming directly at the group of heroes.

Hawkeye ran for a building top and Thor swung his hammer flying off into the air to kill the aliens surrounding the thing.

"Dr. Banner this would be a good time to get angry," Steve said.

"That's the secret, Captain, I'm always angry," Bruce said walking over towards the metal snake.

He Hulked out in the most graceful way Charlotte had ever seen. The Hulk roared before stopping the snake in its 'nose'. The sudden stop in motion followed Newton's Law of Gravity as the tail continued moving over the Hulk towards the remaining Charlotte, Natasha, Tony and Steve who immediately separated. Charlotte and Tony taking the air to distract the other giant snakes that were emerging from the portal.

"I need a way to get to the top of that building," Natasha said to Steve. An idea came to her, "Give me a boost."

"Are you sure?" Steve asked.

"Yeah," Natasha said looking up, "It'll be fun."

Timed perfectly, Natasha jumped off the Cap's shield as he utilized his super speed to propel her upward. She grabbed on a flying alien to ride to the top.

"You take the left side, I'll take the right," Tony said.

Charlotte nodded turning her wings in a hang glider fashion left bound before beating them furiously towards the portal opening. She immediately landed atop one of the moving snakes. She studied it quickly determined it was part tech part alien magic. She stomped a foot on the top of the mechanical snake and found static wiring flickering. She jumped off dodging the Chitauri blasts she flew backwards, stiffening her legs as she studied the underbelly of the beast.

Quickly utilizing the engineering masters she had to find it's sweet spot and screeching directly at it. Charlotte quickly got out from under it as it fell to the ground, crushing a group of aliens dismantling a building.

She twisted her body around tightly in time to see Tony burst out of the mechanical snake he chose to follow. She stopped in mid air her wings set to tread air like her legs treaded water.

Tony flew over to his building where Loki was stationed. Charlotte watched as Hulk and Thor beat the Chitauri master beast. Hulk jumped off as the thing collapsed and Charlotte rushed to him.

"Hulk smash," the green beast grunted.

"Hulk smash indeed," Charlotte said, "Good job."

Hulk smiled in a self satisfied way. He ran off to a building.

Loki was seething. He had thrown the man of iron out the window. He wouldn't let these mortals who were on a lower caliber than him. He was a king and he would be a king of this forsaken place. Suddenly, the green monster crashed through the building. The Hulk recognized this man as the man in the floating ship. Bruce recognized him as the one that was trying to manipulate him into destroying S.H.I.E.L.D.'s base.

"Go ahead Hulk, unleash terror," Bruce said through his mind to Hulk's mind.

Hulk roared at the little man.

Loki felt the wind blow over his face before losing his temper, "Enough! I am above you, you mindless beast, I am a king, a God and do not-."

Hulk grabbed him by his leg beating him on the ground ferociously. He left the 'god' on the ground, completely winded. "Puny god," both Bruce and Hulk scoffed.

Bruce saw the world through Hulk's eyes. Things like enemy, friend, weak and strong.

Hulk saw Captain America and thought friend, saw Tony and thought friend, saw Charlotte and thought Bruce's special friend. If Bruce was in his own body, he would have blushed.

Charlotte flew up towards Hawkeye who had found his nest and was firing off Chitauri aliens.

"Guys, I hate to say this but a nuke is coming, it's gonna blow up the whole island," Tony's voice sounded in her ear.

"What's the plan?" Charlotte asked turning her winged back on the Hulk.

"There's no plan. No team plan anyway. I'm the only one who can do this," Tony said. His tone resolved.

Charlotte's eyes widened. Things just escalated way too quickly.


	7. Chapter 7

**Author's Note:**

Next installment. It's not over just want to clarify. Things are going to start heating up. Thank you to all the people who are reviewing, favoriting and following. :)

Enjoy!

* * *

7.

"Tony, stop," Charlotte said turning, looking for the unmistakable red and gold suit, "If you're doing what I think you're doing, don't you dare think about doing it."

"I have to do it Charlotte," Tony said, "All of Manhattan is going to be reduced to a crumble if I don't."

"I can close the portal," Natasha screamed in my ear.

"Wait!" Charlotte said.

"Tony, Natasha's going to close the portal, you'll get stuck in there and you'll never come back, it's freaking space!" Charlotte screamed at Tony.

Hawkeye turned around to stare at her with an incredulous expression. She ran off the building, spreading her wings and flying to the device on the top of the roof controlling the portal.

"Steve, we can't close the portal," She said at the top of her lungs.

Once she said that, the largest of the mechanical snakes emerged from the portal. Well, great, now we HAD to close the portal and Tony HAD to get rid of that nuke.

"Charlotte," Tony whispered through her earpiece, "you need to close the portal."

"No Charlotte, I've got to do this."

Charlotte watched over her shoulder as Thor and the Hulk worked together to tear that mega snake apart with each superhuman blow. Watched Hawkeye shoot down the Chitauri aliens then pull the arrows out because he was running out. She landed on the building, the wind blowing the strands of hair that escaped her braid.

"I've got Loki's scepter," Natasha yelled over the beating wind, "It's the only thing that can shut the portal."

Charlotte licked her lips. All of a sudden, in a blur of red and gold a flying Iron Man holding a gray nuclear missile. It was larger than Tony himself. He flew straight into the hole and Charlotte held her breath staring straight at the portal.

It was ten heartbeats later when Steve ordered Natasha to close the portal before it was too late, four heartbeats later when she saw Tony's limp body falling from the sky. She breathed a sigh of relief looking towards Natasha who had the same expression. In that moment, she felt a camaraderie with these people who she had only met earlier today. Like she said to Bruce they were all lost souls, she had read their files on the S.H.I.E.L.D. database. She read that they were all trying to redeem themselves, how they were all looking to form a new life for the one they had lost. Now, as Charlotte surveyed the scene-watched as Hulk grabbed Tony's body looking like a doll in his large hands and bringing him down to safety.

Charlotte gave Natasha a quick nod before jumping of the building and flying towards where Tony, Steve, Thor and the Hulk were gathered.

She came right when Tony was blathering on about a shawarma joint. Charlotte smirked at Tony.

"Not now, Tony, we're not done yet," Steve said.

"Later, later we should get shawarma," Tony said in a breathless voice.

Charlotte breathed a sigh of relief.

"Well, little Miss Dr. Sunshine," Tony said, "how was your first flight?"

Charlotte held out a hand for him as he creaked metallically, "Not my first flight Mr. Stark but my first fight."

"Tomato, Tomoto," Tony said dismissively.

"Loki," Steve said, redirecting Tony's focus once again.

Charlotte patted Hulk's knee, "Good job, Hulk."

"Hulk help tiny man," Hulk grunted.

"Yeah, yeah you did," Charlotte said with a laugh.

"Loki," Hawkeye said as they walked to Stark Tower. Natasha joined them as they walked up the stairs to the top floor.

Loki was smashed into the ground and Tony groaned, "That is going to cost so much to repair."

Hawkeye knelt down to stare over Loki and the rest of the members from the Avenger's Initiative gathered around him. Loki was roused back to consciousness only to awake to an arrow being pointed at his face. His eyes flitted off every face. The idiot soldier, the green brute, the weak red head, one of his former minions, the man of iron-annoying ingrate and the weak mortal who apparently had wings.

"If it's all the same to you," he muttered, "I'll have that drink now."

Charlotte watched as Tony smirked, his face revealed from his mask. She could practically read his mind thinking that sarcastic son of a bitch. She got why Steve was always so mad at Tony for not understanding the gravity of the situation in dire situations. Situations like when they were about to arrest an evil god who had just destroyed a major city in the United States.

Thor locked Loki up in some kind of pair of Asgardian alien handcuffs that apparently prevented his magic. Charlotte was fascinated. With a mind of science, she had wondered all about this magic that was present in this evil, but magical, being.

They were at a S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters just moments later with Loki sitting in an interrogation styled room. The Hulk was outside relaxing so Dr. Banner could come back and Tony started his plans with Pepper to rebuild Stark Tower as well as other parts of New York.

Charlotte walked to the back door as Dr. Banner came back, in human form and in a purple button down. The man looked too good in purple it was almost unfair.

"Hi, Bruce," Charlotte said.

"Hi, Charlotte," Bruce murmured with a small smile, "Where are you going?"

"Bathroom," Charlotte said with a shrug feeling her wings bob against her shoulder blades and winced, "I'm getting some stares."

"There's an empty room back there, it's less embarrassing than having someone walk into you," Bruce said, "Trust me."

Charlotte gave him a soft smile, "Do you think they have an aspirin? Or a heat pack?"

Bruce lifted an eyebrow at her but nodded. She walked through the door Bruce had just left. Okay, Charlotte thought, just have to clear your mind. It was easy to change it was easy to change back for Charlotte. She didn't like changing back all the time, just like she didn't like changing to. Changing to meant she became some kind of mutant freak and changing from meant back pains causing her to have to sit on her stomach and blurry eyesight. Oh and she didn't have her special glasses. Great.

She felt her back stretching and here wings being pulled back into her back muscles. She felt the fire of the tattoo lines burn into her back. This was awful, it was a fiery stinging feeling mixed with those tingles centered at her shoulder blades, like when one of your limbs fall asleep. She tried to move her back but the pain seared her like a knife and she fell to the ground. She tried to roll over onto her back to get comfortable but her back was too sensitive to the ground so she flipped back onto her chest.

Charlotte felt the tears prick up in her eyes, eyes that were slowly losing the perfect vision she had and falling back into a blurry blob of fuzz, she fell back into her pitying self loathing attitude that she had before this. Before she utilized what she thought was a fault in her and she used it to her advantage. And she helped people. She furrowed her eyebrows and pushed up with her hands, straining her back muscles too much. The pain intensified to the point where she blacked out. She heard the door open and a voice calling for help before going into the abyss.

"I love you Charlotte," Jason said kissing her, "I love you so much, I am so sorry for what happened to you."

Charlotte kissed him back feeling the butterflies fluttering in her stomach with each kiss. Jason was the perfect guy. He was tall, had soft blonde hair and absolutely beautiful blue eyes. Charlotte was jealous of his eyes, they were literally like sapphires, dark and deep, extremely more shocking than Charlotte's boring hazel greens.

Charlotte just felt so safe in Jason's arms as they sat on their couch in their apartment in Pasadena. They were watching Hocus Pocus, Charlotte's all time pick me up movie.

All of a sudden, Charlotte just started bawling. Jason had really helped her with her feelings, but with containing them, so now that they were both silent, she just couldn't stop the feelings from pouring out. She buried her face into his chest.

"They locked me up in a glass case, Jason," Charlotte whispered, "They pricked me with needles. They used me as a test subject. I was a lab rat." At that she cried harder.

"Hey, hey," Jason soothed rubbing her back, "You're here with me now. I'm not going anywhere."

Charlotte gave him a grateful watery smile. Suddenly, she felt a pain in her back that definitely didn't happened during this conversation.

She growled in pain but after a while the pain subsided.

Charlotte and Jason were together for years, and they weren't waiting for marriage to consummate their relationship and had done the dirty deed numerous times. But this time was different. Once her heart started beating with excitement, lust and love for Jason, a tremor went through her that wasn't due to pleasure.

When the wings burst, Jason screamed backing away from her. Charlotte gasped in shock. Everything the scientists had done to her was threaten her, anger her and caused her stress. That was why she sprouted wings and became some mutant bird thing.

"Oh my god," Charlotte said trying to cover herself up. She couldn't pull a shirt over her wings so she tried stepping into a racer back tank top and shorts.

Jason was quickly pulling on a t-shirt and boxers exiting the room quickly.

"Jason, where are you going?" Charlotte asked following him.

"This is just so weird," Jason said, "I knew the side effects but what else triggers...this?"

"When I'm stressed or anxious or angry," Charlotte said frantically.

"So you're just going to sprout wings if we argue or if you get stressed out?" Jason asked shaking his head, "I don't know if I can handle this."

Charlotte felt like she had been slapped, "You can't handle it? You can't handle it?! I'm the one who's sprouting wings. I'm the one who just got out of a government testing facilities, where I was the test subject! And YOU can't handle it?"

"See just like this," Jason said pointing at her, "We're having an argument, which we will have, and you're just going

to sprout wings and I'm going to feel bad because I know you don't like this part."

Jason sighed, "I think we need to take a break Charly."

"No," Charlotte said coldly, "I think we need to end this."

Jason just shook his head. He walked towards her to kiss her once more but she moved her head and he kissed the side of her mouth. Which still made her heart flutter. So when he walked out, she felt her heart break as she dropped to the ground. She buried her face in her hands cursing the government, the military, the world. Wishing with all her heart the wings would go away. Every time she changed back at the facility she was under sedition. But this time she wasn't, she could feel everything about her body changing, her wings shrinking and being sucked back into her body.

And it hurt. But not as much as her heart. The love of her life had walked out on her during a fragile time because of something she could not control.

"Charlotte," a soft voice called.

Her eyes fluttered and the people in the room breathed a sigh of relief at the blurry faces that greeted her. She could barely tell Tony from Steve. She still felt the pain in her back as prevalent as it was before.

"Aspirin," Charlotte asked with a dry voice, "And a heat compress."

A woman with strawberry blonde hair rushed towards her with a water glass. Charlotte reached a limp arm towards it. Bruce took her glass and tried to lift her face towards it but the muscles in her neck that was connected to her back filled with pain and she cried out softly.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Charlotte whispered.

"It's okay," Bruce said, maneuvering the glass so she didn't strain her neck and gave her the pills.

"If you need us, Char, give us a call," Tony said ushering the strawberry blonde woman out of the room. Steve and Natasha followed.

Charlotte's lips quivered, "My life is so complicated, but who am I to complain, you probably understand better than I do."

Bruce gave her a twisted smile. Charlotte tentatively reached a hand out to touch Bruce's. "Tell me about it," Bruce said.

"I was eighteen when I met Jason," Charlotte said with a sigh, "He was amazing, horrible at science, but amazing. It took him five months of me tutoring before he asked me out. We dated up until I was 22 and went to work for the military. He always supported me during my research."

Charlotte gave a small smile as Bruce curled his fingers with hers.

"And when I got out, he was nothing but supportive. But he didn't help relieve my emotions, he just kind of helped me bottle it up," Charlotte said, "I sprout wings when my heart quickens. The government showed me that it was caused by anger, stress, the feeling of threat and anxiety. And apparently lust."

Charlotte closed her eyes, "Not a lot of men like it when you sprout wings during sex."

Bruce chuckled, "Not many women like it when you turn into a big green rage monster when you're trying to decide what television show to watch."

"You had a relationship too?" Charlotte asked, opening her eyes.

"With a woman named Betty," Bruce said with a wince, "Her father employed me and her father tried to contain me when I 'Hulked out'. She was curious always asking questions that I didn't want to answer about the Hulk. A woman of science, never taking no for the answer. Sure I might have been on edge but you understand, it's a big life change."

"Suddenly everything's being taken away from you and you don't understand life anymore," Charlotte said with a small nose of confirmation.

"Just two lost souls," Bruce whispered.

"Well," Charlotte murmured, "We don't have to be alone."

Bruce gave her a soft smile, "It might not be for the best."

"Well, I don't know about you Bruce, but I've been tiptoeing through life," Charlotte said, "I settled with my job, I settled with my life, and I'm through settling. Bruce I like you, a lot more than a companion or a partner and if you don't mind me randomly sprouting wings-"

Charlotte was cut off. Cut off by Bruce kissing her sweetly, in a way Jason never did and never could.

* * *

Yup, it happened. Leaving you here, but the story's NOT over! Follow, Favorite and Review.


	8. Chapter 8

**Author's Note:**

This is another backgroundy thing/part of the story. It's Charlotte's journey to find she's 'more than herself'. Lol corny joke.

Response to **mrastounding**:

I totally understand. I thought that who explanation was awkward too. But I had to make them break up permanently, not just to protect Betty or whatever, since it's an OC story. So I did take some artistic license and incorporated some comicverse things with that explanations. In the comics at one point, Betty wanted to find a way to separate the Hulk and Bruce from each other, completely, so I guessed that a way to do that was to ask alot of annoying questions about the Hulk that made Bruce uncomfortable or something.

And your other statement, I don't understand... did I write something about that in a previous chapter because I agree with you, I don't think that would cause a heart rate about 200 unless you got into a really pointless arguement that left one of the parties incredibly furious and flustered and pissed off. I know some couples that argue pretty intensley about what TV show they should watch, though. I hope this clears up some issues! Tell me if you have any more questions/thoughts!

To everyone else: thanks for favoriting, following and reviewing. If you have questions or comments about the story keep reviewing and I'll answer if I can!

Enjoy!

* * *

8.

Bruce kissed her and of course, someone opened the door. Not just someone, Tony. He walked, well-more like sauntered, into the small room. Bruce and Charlotte had long since separated, the moment they heard the door open, faces flushed.

"Hope I'm not interrupting," Tony said with a shit eating grin, "Fury wants us all to gather to send Thor off."

Charlotte nodded, lifting off the bed. Her back throbbed with a small pains, radiating from her center but nothing different than other times. Bruce took her forearm and helped her off the bed. She gave him a small smile and he sent one in return. Charlotte rested her hand on the small of her back applying slight pressure to alleviate the pain.

"Also," Tony said turning to face them with a finger pointed, "about my offer that I made earlier, while we were with S.H.I.E.L.D. It still stands. We're rebuilding Stark Tower-Pepper and I. And being Tony Stark, I always want the best."

"That was nice Tony," Charlotte said with an eye roll, "But I should be returning to California. My cat has probably ate all his food and scratched my couch."

"We could bring your cat here," Tony said.

Bruce nodded, "We both know you don't want to be a professor."

"So you will be staying?" Charlotte asked looking up at Bruce.

"I left because I felt as though I couldn't control my transforming," Bruce said, "But I have a much better outlook on my relationship with the Hulk. I'm always angry, the Hulk never takes over, I have allied myself with it. Hopefully I won't break any other major tri-state region of New York."

Charlotte offered him a smile then turned to Tony, "Can I get back to you on that?"

"Of course," Tony said with a nod as he walked out the door.

Charlotte bit her lip. She had lived her entire life in California. She had a nice apartment in Pasadena, one bedroom for a really good price. It was cheaper than half the apartments in the city and only available to her because of her occupation at CalTech. But then again, she was sure that taking a job with Tony would pay more than one at CalTech. Or at the least find her a better apartment.

But she knew the reason for not wanting to come to New York was not because of her cat or her cheap yet very nice apartment. Her parents still lived in California, in Los Angeles. And still after all these years she hoped they would come knocking on her door saying that they wanted her back in the family.

It was years ago, when she was 22. She was sketching a compound and writing notes on it. Her phone rang causing her to lift her eyes from her notes.

"Hello," she murmured pushing her glasses up her nose.

"Hey Charly," her mother said over the phone.

"Hi mom, how are you guys?"

"Pretty good, pretty good. How's our daughter doing, working for the government?"

Her parents were immensely proud of all her achievements. But they were probably more proud of her than she was of herself. It was bordering on creepy. Her parents were never part of the elite members of society, or the wealthy. So once Charlotte had gone to CalTech, they had attended a parent's function and met all these rich benefactors and donators. They still attended the meetings even after she graduated and befriended a lot of the donators. They liked their new status, sometimes a little too much.

"It's going pretty good," Charlotte said with a small smile, "We're about to do a test run with the bomb. It should be exciting, hopefully all goes well. How's Annabelle?"

Annabelle was her 10 year old sister. She wasn't as smart as Charlotte but she was a lot prettier, even in her formative years. She had the same blonde hair as Charlotte but hers was a more tamable curl. Where Charlotte had her father's boring hazel eyes, Annabelle had her mother's bright blues.

Charlotte was bookish and homely looking and Annabelle had a look at me vibe that would definitely come in handy once she became a teenager.

"Annabelle's good," her mom said, "She's starting to do better in science, they're thinking about bumping her up a grade."

"Oh that's so good for her," Charlotte said. The age difference between them made them not as close as other siblings but they were close nonetheless. She was the one who taught her how to ride a bike.

"Here she wants to talk to you."

"Charly?" Annabelle's high voice asked.

"Hey Anna banana," Charlotte said with a smile. Annabelle was the one who christened her with the name Charly. Before no one called her that, it was always Charlotte. But that was a mouthful for Annabelle when she was a baby so Charlotte's name was shortened. And it just stuck.

"When are you coming back Charly, I miss you," Annabelle said with a pout sounding in her voice.

"Soon, Annie, I have to do a couple more things for my boss and I'll be home by Halloween and we'll go trick or treating," Charlotte said, continuing to work on her lab notes.

"Okay," Anna said.

Charlotte's mom went back on the phone saying, "We'll call you back after the test."

"Bye."

Three years later, after the accident left her with wings, Charlotte picked up her phone for the first time in years and called her parents.

Her mother answered the voice with a hesitant voice, "Charlotte?"

"Hi Momma," Charlotte said with a whisper, "Are you guys home?"

"Um, sweetie here's the thing, the government called us and told us what happened," her mom started, "We don't think it's a good idea with Annabelle around."

"What?"

"And did you know that some of the parents in the CalTech alumni program know about your accident, the ones involved with the military," her mom continued ignoring her question, "We lost so many connections."

Charlotte's chin wobbled, "So what time do you want me to come?"

"Well, sweetheart, let's wait until this blows over or you can get that problem fixed," her mom said distractedly, "We'll call you."

Charlotte pulled the phone away from her ear and stared at it in shock. Her mother had blown her off with some flimsy excuse. It was so short, there were no tears, there were no feelings. Her mother didn't even seem to think there was anything wrong with what she was saying. She shoved her phone into her back pocket and walked over to the new apartment CalTech had bought her once she agreed to be a professor there.

Charlotte nibbled her bottom lip as she watched Loki and Thor hold the Tesseract, lock it and be pulled into a portal/vortex back to their alien realm of Asgard.

Tony looked at her before opening the door of his small sports car, "I can book you a flight to Cali quickly."

"Thanks," she muttered.

Charlotte watched as Steve rode off in his motorcycle, Bruce and Tony drive off towards Stark Tower and Natasha and Clint drove off in a S.H.I.E.L.D. vehicle. Charlotte stood there looking out at the city that had been repaired to the best of its abilities. Tugging the sleeve of her blazer she walked over towards Stark Tower to get the tickets from Tony.

Back at her apartment in Pasadena, she was greeted immediately by her black cat rubbing and purring her legs. She reached down and scooped Alley in her arms, "Hey Alley cat did you miss me?"

Charlotte opened up a can of cat food to feed Alley. She crouched down to scratch the top of her head.

"What do you think, Alley? Do you want to move to New York?" Charlotte asked.

Her cat ignored her as it continued to eat. Charlotte smirked. She walked over to the window and looked out at her view of the apartment building next to hers. Biting her lip she realized that New York could be the place to change her life. Get away from what had hurt her and embrace something new.

Then again, there was no Bruce in California. Bruce was in New York. Her cheeks flushed recalling their quick kiss. It was short, it was sweet, but there was definitely a spark. But was there enough spark to leave her life for. She liked him all but was it long term. She wondered if she could have a relationship with him. They understood each other but just because they shared a same past but that did not mean Bruce would react the same way all the other guys she 'dated' did to when she sprouted wings during sex. She knew it took a lot more from Bruce to Hulk out but she had differing intensities that caused her transformations.

She had not yet fully commanded her mutations, she didn't understand it yet, completely. Bruce had time to ally himself with his Dr. Jekyll, so he had set transformation breaks. Points where he would break no matter what. Charlotte was let unpredictable. Once she sprouted wings by stubbing her foot but they she got really angry once and flustered but never transformed. She blamed the government injecting all those adrenaline needles. She wondered sometimes what the government had gathered about her 'mutation'. She never read her file.

Bruce and her could understand each other in an emotional relationship but would he stick around. Or would he leave like Jason for no good reason. Charlotte shook her head, Bruce wasn't like that right? But it all boiled down to the fact that she wouldn't be able to explore any of that if she wasn't in New York.

Ugh, Charlotte thought, why wasn't this decision easier.

She shook her head calling herself a hypocrite and stomping over to her couch before plopping down on the cushion. She had been so quick to accept Fury's request to work for S.H.I.E.L.D. even though she had no idea what she was getting into. But then again S.H.I.E.L.D. had connections to the government. Tony just had his money and his word.

She didn't even know if she could publish any research she did with Tony. Tony wasn't affiliated with the government and he definitely couldn't bypass the system. No matter how much money and power he had, she knew that Tony had his disputes with the government system, locally and nationally.

Charlotte sat up straighter. She ran into her bedroom to open up her bedside drawers and pull out a business card with a telephone number given to her by a government agent who called with any questions. And she had a lot of questions and a lot of concerns and a lot of requests and demands.

She walked into her living area with the card in hand. A knock sounded on her door and Charlotte put the card on her coffee table. She walked over to her door and opened it without looking through her peep hole.

Once the door was flung open and the person on the other side was revealed, Charlotte's eyes widened.

"Charly?"


	9. Chapter 9

**Author's Note:**

Sorry for the slight delay, school's been hectic. I'm taking four AP courses right now and we always seem to have tests in all classes at the same time. It's a short chapter but it's all I could manage with what was going on in my school life.

Sorry, but enjoy!

* * *

9.

Recap:

Once the door was flung open and the person on the other side was revealed, Charlotte's eyes widened.

"Charly?"

Charlotte stared at a teenager, the same height as herself with straight platinum blonde hair and sparkling blue eyes lined with thick black liner.

"Bella?" Charlotte asked.

"Yeah," she answered running a hand through her hair showing of a hot pink streak next to a purple one causing Charlotte's eyes to widen, "I figured you'd be in the neighborhood."

Charlotte cocked her head to the side in question. Annabelle smirked, "I saw you on the news. I could detect your face from anywhere, the wings however, were unexpected. I figured you'd be coming back to Cali, you never liked living away from home when I was younger."

Charlotte bit her lip as she gestured for Annabelle to come in, "Are Mom and Dad coming too?"

Annabelle looked at her, hearing the obvious hope in Charlotte's voice. She rolled her eyes at her older sister, "Don't put too much faith in Mom and Dad, it gets tiresome after a while."

Charlotte looked shocked at Annabelle's tone. Standing in place of a sweet innocent girl that she once knew was apparently a rebellious 17 year old.

Charlotte sighed though as her sister's words rang true, "How are they?"

"Distant," Annabelle said, "But I might be biased. They became distant when I let them know that I didn't want to go to CalTech and do something in science."

"Oh," Charlotte said.

"I don't blame you or anything," Annabelle said, "Please, Mr. Durkas told Mom and Dad out about how their daughter was a mutant. I asked about it and he was more than happy to tell me all about your accident in the lab. I kind of get why you never came back to go trick or treating."

Charlotte rushed to her and gave her a hug. When Annabelle hugged back it felt so weird. Back when Anna used to hug her when she was ten, her hugs only reached her waist but now they were the same height. "I wanted to come back, but Mom and Dad said it wouldn't be safe for you."

"BS," Annabelle snorted plopping herself onto Charlotte's sofa, "You know them. They want perfection and to keep their connections intact. When you left they went ballistic on me. I was recommended to skip a grade and Mom and Dad brought me to my room gave me a lecture and stared at me until I agreed."

Charlotte snorted. She remembered when the school recommended she skip third and fourth grade and how Mom and Dad when crazy with pride. She could only imagine how much they would want their replacement daughter to be advanced.

"I thought it was so weird but I accepted but once I learned about you I rebelled against them as an almost homage to you," Annabelle said with a smirk, "Dyed my hair platinum, gave it a couple of streaks and started listening to the music they really hate. Then I told them I wanted to be an artist."

"An artist?" Charlotte asked. Then she realized how much she didn't know about her younger sister. She hadn't been in contact with her since she was ten, so seven years. She watched as Alley jumped onto Anna's lap and cuddled her. Charlotte bit her lip. She didn't act like it but she felt so awkward. She blamed herself for Anna's need to rebel, even if Anna didn't.

If it weren't for her accident, Anna would have never rebelled, never felt the need to rebel. She would have reached her full potential in whatever field she could. Maybe she would have excelled in science or history or math. Charlotte knew it was hard to make it as just an artist. It was a shot in the dark kind of job. She looked at Annabelle and felt that self loathing again. She felt as though she had just gotten over it with Bruce's help but now she had a whole new reason to hate her accident, hate herself and hate the government.

"Yeah, I know what you're thinking," Annabelle said, "My guidance councilor pretty much said your thoughts. Oh, Annabelle, you're such a bright girl, you could do so much more with your life. But what she doesn't understand is that art has become my whole life. It started out as something I could do to rebel against the science camps Mom and Dad sent me to each summer but now it's consumed my life and I don't mind."

Annabelle pulled out her iPhone and opened up her picture storage. She showed her sister a painting. It was abstract full of colors and faces mixed with the patterns. Thick lines outlined the colors making it pop and the faces stared at Charlotte their eyes somehow able to pierce her soul.

"This is really good," Charlotte murmured.

"Thanks," Annabelle answered, "I was twelve when I did it. It's kind of basic, the color schemes and the sketches."

"Twelve?" Charlotte asked.

Annabelle shrugged, "I sent it into an art competition, it won nationals, but I didn't win world. It was my first art competition."

Charlotte smiled slightly looking through Annabelle's pictures. She looked through her collection of profiles, portraits, charcoal sketches, paintings, prints and photos in awe. Where she was a genius in science, Annabelle was a prodigy in art.

Annabelle looked at her, "I'm really good with emotions in the eyes, Charly, I know you felt guilty before, you really shouldn't. If it wasn't for you I'd probably end up a boring mathematician or scientist, no offense."

"Being an artist is amazing, it's opened a whole new world to me," Annabelle said.

Charlotte smiled. Anna looked at her, "I got accepted in a really good art school in New York. Critics say it doesn't matter what school you go to so long as you have a good portfolio. But I don't want to go anywhere in Cali, I want to go to New York. It's a new adventure. Mom and Dad know and protested against it but I've saved money I've won from competitions, I can go on my own and I got a scholarship to the academy."

" You're going to New York?" Charlotte asked.

"Yeah, I need some new scenery, create my own life," Annabelle said, "I'm not like what Mom and Dad want me to be. What about you? Why didn't you leave California?"

"I," Charlotte started, "guess it was easier."

"What's so great about life if you make it easy?" Annabelle asked, "Do you have a bathroom?"

"Yeah, over there," Charlotte pointed.

As Anna left the for the bathroom. Charlotte thought hard and deep. She had spent her entire life in California. She had lived her entire life the same way up until her accident. Her seventeen year old sister she hadn't seen in seven years was more knowledgeable about this one fact than Charlotte was. Charlotte always thought she knew what was best. But maybe she only knew how to make things easy for herself. Maybe she had never really been living her life. She had went to school to learn, she went to college to be a scientist and went into research to discover things. It had always been a chain of events. She had one boyfriend in her entire life and thought he would be the one she would marry.

Charlotte picked up her iPhone, typing in Tony Stark's number.

"Tony Stark's phone," a woman's voice said.

"Hey Pepper, it's Charlotte, can I speak with Tony."

"Sure."

"Sup, wings," Tony said.

Charlotte rolled her eyes, "Tony, does that job offer still stand?"

"Of course," Tony said immediately becoming serious, "You of course would have amazing health benefits, insurance, a great paycheck and an apartment building right next to the newly renovated Stark Tower. Now the headquarters to Team Avenger."

Charlotte smiled, "Let the research begin."

"That's the spirit," Tony chirped through the phone, "You better get back here soon, Bruce has been quiet and moody since you left."

Charlotte blushed, "Stop Tony, you're teasing me."

"Please, you think that I didn't see that kiss, adorable," Tony said, "But on a serious note, you need a super hero name."

"What?" Charlotte asked.

'Well you're an Avenger now, you are burdened with glorious purposes. And I can't keep calling my top researcher Little Miss Dr. Sunshine."

"Top researcher?" Charlotte breathed.

"Yup, you'll be getting the call for your license renewal tomorrow, Thursday at the latest."

"Glorious purposes, huh?"

"Yeah stole that from antler boy. I'm thinking ShadowWings or NightEagle," Tony mused.

"Why is there a night reference in all of them?" Charlotte asked.

"I don't know, it was catchier and everyone has pretty obvious names, minus the Hulk," Tony said, "I mean Iron Man and Captain America- people could guess those names. And Thor is just Thor, that's his name. Oh you could be Dr. Bird."

"No," Charlotte said with an eye roll, "Please tell me you're on some kind of caffeine induced high right now."

"Maybe," Tony said, "Pepper's calling me, I'll see you when you come back to New York."

"Yeah you will," Charlotte said quietly.

She hung up the phone and breathed in deeply. A new chapter was about to start.

Annabelle walked out and the cat immediately began to attack her ankles, rubbing her calves for attention.

"What's up, Charly?" Anna asked.

"Looks like, we're both going to New York."


	10. Chapter 10

**Author's Note:**

Next chapter! Thanks for all the amazing favorites, follows and reviews...especially regarding the ones about my amazing cliff handgers ;)

Enjoy!

* * *

10.

It's been one month since I started working for Tony at Stark Industries. It's been an interesting experience. Tony had stopped zapping Bruce with miniature shocking devices to get reactions a week ago and they had just started sifting through all of Charlotte's old research, getting rid of the outdated material and keeping some that was able to meld with Tony's research.

Charlotte watched as Tony controlled all the files on her flash drive bypassing her encryptions, her firewalls only stopping to have her put in her passwords in her password protected files. All her pass codes were the same though: Halloween. It was random enough not to guess on the first try and to overlook because who would use a holiday as a password?

"This one isn't finished," Tony said pulling up the file that her entire theory written down in multiple pages.

"Yeah, I got my license revoked at that point," Charlotte murmured from her lab bench, "It was a couple days after the military told the government that I had destroyed the bomb prototype."

"Really?" Tony asked.

"Yeah, I think they said I did it on purpose as an act of protest," Charlotte mused, scrolling through the files on the holographic screen.

"Oh I've actually read this one," Tony exclaimed, "It was your thesis, I read it when it was first published."

"How old were you?" Charlotte said, "You couldn't have been much older than I was."

"Well unlike you, Little Miss Dr. Sunshine," Tony started, "I graduated college when I was 22, so I read it once I completed my Masters. I'm seven years older than you."

Charlotte nodded looking at her thesis paper on her own tablet.

Bruce walked into the research room they were in. When Tony remodeled Stark Tower, he added on entire floor that was just a research room for anything along with rooms for specific sections of research. The main one was divided between Bruce, Charlotte and Tony.

The differences between each person's lab area was comical. Tony's was all robot arms and cluttered with papers despite all of his files being digitally saved by JARVIS and spare parts; Charlotte's was filled with files, whiteboards, the stench of dry erase markers; and Bruce's was incredibly clean, filing cabinets in alphabetical order and clean and spare lab tables.

"What's up?" Bruce asked looking at the holographic screens and tablets in both of their hands.

"We're looking up Charlotte's files to separate the out of date ones and the ones that pertain to the research I am already conducting," Tony said.

"Since most of my research ended seven years ago, some of it is bound to be out of date," Charlotte said with a shrug.

"We were just discussing her thesis paper," Tony said, "I read it when I was 22 and just starting out at the company and it was really inspiring. The fact that someone had dared to suggest that nuclear energy can be contained was something I had never seriously considered."

Charlotte smiled at him.

"I read that thesis as well, one of my colleagues who researched with CalTech showed me the latest genius's work," Bruce said.

"Oh stop it boys, you're making me blush," Charlotte said walking over to her stations and collecting a pile of files trying to organize them.

In truth, it wasn't Tony that made her blush, it was the fact that Bruce had read her thesis. He had read her work and he liked it. They hadn't talked about their kiss a month ago. Honestly, every time she saw Bruce she blushed and wanted to flee the room. She felt like the stereotypical high school teenager with a crush on the footballer. However, she had never been a teenager in high school once she turned thirteen she was already in college and hadn't had a crush on a boy until she turned eighteen. And then it never happened again. She didn't know anything about relationships. She had been in one. As a scientist she knew that an experiment could not be conducted once in order to determine validity.

In order to gain an understanding of dating, she would need to repeat the act multiple times in order to gain an understanding. She was sure that Bruce had been in many relationships. She had been in one.

One relationship that lasted four years. She tried to date again once but most men did not fancy the idea of having intercourse with a winged woman. Well, some did but they usually weren't good people.

"Charlotte," Bruce said.

Charlotte's head snapped up. She had been staring. Directly at him. You idiot, she thought, you are so transparent.

"Sorry, lost my mind for a moment," Charlotte murmured.

Bruce gave her a kind smile with which she returned with an awkward smile and a blush.

"Sir, there is someone at the door," the computerized British voice of JARVIS sounded through the room.

"Pull up video feed," Tony said distracted by the tablet.

A feed came up on the screen. It was Annabelle's blond head pulled up in a ponytail, her eyes squinting at the camera lenses.

"Is this high resolution?" Annabelle asked, "Where did you purchase this? Did you invent this? This must get amazing pictures and video feed."

Those were all mutterings that the three people inside the tower could hear.

Annabelle raised her voice louder than her regular talking voice, "Mr. Stark? Could I see the prototype for this or some blueprints, I'm pretty good with putting things together-sculptors' gift or whatever. I have to take a couple pictures for my portfolio and these would make really high resolution pictures."

"Your sister seems charming," Tony said looking at the feed with a smirk, "I like her she seems spunky."

Charlotte rolled her eyes. Every weekend Annabelle would stay with Charlotte. Usually she met her at the apartment Tony had secured for her and they would go out for coffee or Chinese. She wondered why Anna was coming to Stark Tower.

"Can you let her up?" Charlotte says, "She doesn't come usually, it might be important."

"JARVIS send the lovely Miss Carlson up to the main research room," Tony said bowing at Charlotte.

"There's no need to be sassy, Tony," Charlotte chided him. Bruce snorted over in his work section.

Annabelle bounded into the research room, "Did you know your elevator talks in a delightful British accent Mr. Stark?"

Tony quirked an eyebrow at her, "I am aware, I programmed it."

"You know you're kind of like Batman," Annabelle said, "You've got it down to the British butler."

"Except I'm not made up."

Annabelle smiled, "Were those original Picasso prints in your front room?"

"Yeah, every piece of art you see is an original, Pepper, my old assistant-"

"Now lover," Charlotte muttered again awarded by a snort of amusement from Bruce and a glare from Tony.

"She took a lot of effort into the design for Stark Tower."

"Yet she only gets 16%," Bruce said. Charlotte laughed as she walked up to her sister.

"What's up Annabelle? Why didn't you wait at the apartment," Charlotte asked.

"Well I have some exciting news," Annabelle answered, "I'm getting showcased at a gallery. It's extremely high end, super hard to get into, no one ever gets in if your just starting out."

"That's great Annabelle," Charlotte exclaimed, "We'll have to go out to celebrate. Tony I'm leaving, see you tomorrow?"

"Yeah sure, congrats Annabelle," Tony said with a wave. The two had met when Charlotte first came back to New York permanently.

"Congratulations," Bruce called.

"Thank you!" Annabelle said with a smile, "Bruce right?"

"Yeah," he said coming over to shake her hand, "And you're Annabelle, obviously."

Annabelle laughed, "Yeah I am. Charlotte talks a lot about you, you know."

Charlotte's smile dropped and her cheeks turned red, "Okay Anna let's go."

"Goodbye," Anna trilled.

As they walked out the door of Stark Industry Anna said, "I like him, he seemed nice."

"And you had to tell him I talked about him?"

"Hey, I never got to play the annoying little sister role, I rather like it."

Charlotte answered this with an eye roll.

Back up in Stark Tower, Tony was giving Bruce his usual shit-eating grin. Bruce rolled his eyes and tried not to show how much he was affected by learning that Charlotte had talked about him to her little sister.

Were they nice things? Or was she telling Annabelle that he was a poor kisser and she wanted to avoid talking about it ever?

It had been a month and he knew it was partially his fault for not being a man and initiating the conversation but it was the 21st century and she wasn't Steve Rogers. She could start the conversation too. Bruce shook his head, she wouldn't do that. She had been in a rocky relationship too, she was bound to have the same insecurities as him.

He looked up and saw Tony staring intently at a S.H.I.E.L.D. labeled file. It was Charlotte's.

"What are you doing?" Bruce asked walking towards Tony.

"JARVIS saved some things when I hacked into S.H.I.E.L.D.'s mainframe, including the good doctor's files," Tony said.

"You shouldn't be looking through those," Bruce said, "It's a private thing."

"Aren't you the least bit curious about it though," Tony asked, "I mean we all knew about each other's powers but hers. Fury just kind of thrust her into this. She has no super hero back story. She hardly used her powers then all of a sudden she turns into some crime fighting, super bird. She doesn't even have a hero name for god sakes."

"We know that she can sprout wings and blast sonic booms from her mouth, and that's all we need to know," Bruce said.

"The government doesn't keep someone locked up for three years if that's all they can do," Tony countered.

"It's a touchy subject for her and we shouldn't be branching into it."

"You know how they say, keep your friends close and your enemies closer?"

"Yes, but Tony, Charlotte's not your enemy, she's your friend."

"Exactly, I never liked that phrase. It's your friends you can't trust. I thought my dad's old business partner was my friend but he was illegally selling my product to terrorists. It's your friends that can really mess things up for you, not your enemies. "

"Charlotte's not going to turn on you," Bruce protested, "She's not some kind of power hungry psychopath."

"It says in her file that she broke into a government facility that had numerous locks and security systems and she managed not to trigger a single one until she tried to hack into the mainframe," Tony said looking at Bruce, "Just because you want to make moony eyes at her doesn't mean you should ignore what's in front of you."

"She was trying to get her research license back, you'd do the exact same thing if someone told you, you couldn't do what you did best, in fact you kind of did."

"Exactly, if I can turn on people and change so can she, we're dealing with something we don't know, I read all of your files and Steve's and Thor's and Natasha's and Clint's. I'm not a very trusting person, I like to know all about a person whether they like it or not."

Bruce stared at Tony. He knew Charlotte would be pissed if she ever found out about this. But he had to admit he was curious to know about her power as well since it was so similar to his. And she was out with her sister. What harm could it be to take a peak?


	11. Chapter 11

**AUthor's Note:**

Next chappie!

Thanks for all my reviews. I loved all the people who said Charlotte would kill them.

Enjoy!

* * *

11.

"I'm not normally a Starbuck's girl, but something about being in Barnes and Nobles makes me want some," Annabelle mused as she and Charlotte sat facing each other on one of the small tables near the coffee shop adjoined to the actual bookstore.

Charlotte smirked, "I'm not a coffee person in general. " Charlotte took a sip from her hot chocolate. "Dunkin Donuts is cheaper."

"Shh," Annabelle shushed her playfully.

"So catch me up," Charlotte said, "I missed seven years of your life, give me some details."

"Well, when you left, I was asked to skip the fifth grade and I did because of mom and dad," Annabelle said thoughtfully, "I wasn't liked so much going into middle school. First it was because I was the 'new girl' but then it was because I was a year younger."

Charlotte nodded empathetically. She reached over and patted her hand. Little ten year old Annabelle with her honey blonde curls and bright eyes being thrust into middle school. Most students going into middle school were nervous but she was thrust into it in the middle. But Charlotte understood. She went to a public high school in her pre-pubesant stages. She wasn't a teenager in high school she was ten years old in high school and had finished in two years.

"I never go made fun of," Annabelle continued, "But I wasn't included. In group projects, I was always the odd one out and whatnot. But I didn't really mind. That was the year I got into art because Mom and Dad didn't really help out with everything in school you know?"

Charlotte didn't know. Mom and Dad were extremely supportive about her advancements, always helping out with her transitions and what not. Maybe they didn't care as much since it was only one year and not the great amounts that Charlotte had skipped.

"But by eighth grade I made really good friends. My best friend, Lexi and I still talk, she's in Julliard right now, you'll like her she's lovely," Annabelle said with a flamboyant wave, "And I dated two guys, one sophomore and one senior year."

"Oh," Charlotte said, "What happened?"

"Well, the sophomore one, Mark, and I, we were sophomores, it didn't last three months, no big," Annabelle said with a shrug, "And I got together with Eric after senior prom and we had a beautiful summer romance which we ended because of college-he's staying in California and I desperately wanted and now am in New York."

"Did you want to break up?" Charlotte asked.

"Well, no," Annabelle said, "But what was I supposed to do, the odds were stack against us. We would be living in two separate coasts and I don't want to go back to California after college, I want to stay here."

Charlotte stared at her little sister. She had been in two relationships before she was eighteen. They seemed more mature than they actually were though.

"But there's this guy in my sculpture class who is ho-ot," Annabelle said raising her voice an octave at the second syllable she made for hot.

Charlotte rolled her eyes and smiled, "Tell me about him."

"Well, he's twenty," Annabelle started.

"Illegal," Charlotte said holding up a hand with a playful smile on her face.

"Shut up," Annabelle flushed, "It is an infatuation, I'm not going to do anything about it. But he has really light blonde hair - I don't think it's from a bottle, an extremely chiseled face-it honestly shouldn't be allowed and these green, green eyes and his hands, God, his hands they're so...capable."

"Capable," Charlotte repeated then burst into laughter.

"Be quiet, all my other adjectives were below the belt," Annabelle defended, "And wait for it...he's British. His accent, oh my God, Charlotte you have to hear it. The uterus quivers, I swear."

Charlotte stared at Annabelle. This whole, I haven't seen my sister in years was hitting her hard. Here was here sister having these infatuations with older men, it was weird. But welcomed, she could handle this. She's handled weirder.

"Speaking off men," Annabelle said carefully, "Jason has been over the house throughout the years."

Charlotte froze, her cup halfway to her mouth. She set down the cup gently and pushed her glasses up her nose. "Jason? Did he say anything about our breakup?"

"Yeah, that was the first visit, he came telling them you guys were on a break," Annabelle said with an eye roll.

Charlotte would have snorted or said something sarcastic but she was to confused about the situation and the emotions that came with it.

"Then he came back like two years later to ask if they had heard from you, which of course they didn't because of their cut connection," Annabelle said with her eyes caste downward, "Apparently he had gone back into the dating scene as he called it. Mom and Dad had remained friends with him or whatever."

This time Charlotte snorted with disbelief. This was so her Mom and Dad. They weren't abusive on purpose. But the things they did without knowing hurt the most.

"Save your disbelief for a little bit," Annabelle cautioned, "He's engaged."

This time Charlotte just stared at her sister in disbelief, "He's engaged?"

"Yeah to a woman named Martha, she's not as pretty as you," Annabelle added looking at her sister, worried.

"Huh," was all Charlotte could manage.

Why did this bother her so much? Come on Charlotte get your shit together! He left, you got over it didn't you? Why did this matter so much? It was just so unexplainable. She had loved him. She had loved Jason, he was the only one that she had loved in her life. She had no way to really get over it.

Charlotte scratched her head musing the braid that was rested over her shoulder.

"Are you okay Charly?" Annabelle asked.

"Yeah, no, sort of," Charlotte said, "It's complicated. One side of me doesn't really care because of what he did but the other really cares, more than it should, because of what I felt before."

Annabelle leaned on the table using her elbow, "Do you want to talk about it?"

"No, I just need to process this," Charlotte muttered. She got up and left the bookstore, "I'll see you at the apartment."

Charlotte wrapped her arms around her torso closing her cardigan over her chest. She felt her dress swish around her knees and her bag hit her hip. Well she felt it but she ignored it. Her mind was reeling. That song, the name escaped her, but it said the first love is the deepest. Well she understood now. You think you're over it but all it takes is something to remind you about it and it all comes crashing down.

* * *

Back in Stark Tower, Tony and Bruce were staring at holographic screens with Charlotte's file pulled up on it.

On the screen to their left was a video of Charlotte with wings pacing in a glass cage, it was a surveillance field from her time at the government facility. On the right was the footage from the bomb and the information about it and her research. On the main screen, the one the two scientists were staring intently at was the results of various tests the government had conducted on her.

"She can shoot lasers from her eyes," Tony muttered, "The frack?"

"Not lasers, heat rays," Bruce muttered back.

"What's the difference?" Tony asked staring at Bruce.

"When you say lasers it makes her seem like a weapon," Bruce said, "It makes me uncomfortable."

"Bruce, if she wanted to she could fly the same speed as a jet," Tony said, "And we're all technically weapons."

"Yes well, we were meant to be weapons," Bruce said, "Charlotte wasn't."

"Well, technically you weren't either," Tony argued.

"That's why it makes me uncomfortable," Bruce said.

"And the fact that you're making moony eyes at her," Tony muttered under his breath.

Bruce scowled at him, "I don't like this."

He felt it was a betrayal of Charlotte's trust on them. And he really did like Charlotte as more than a partner or friend. He just didn't know how to go about expressing that. It had been a while and what if she did feel the same. He didn't like this feeling, he felt like a teenager trying to get laid for the first time on prom night. All nervous and jittery but keeping it cool in front of his friends.

"She needs less food than normal to survive," Tony continued, "She can literally eat like a bird and be fine. Her balance is better than all of us, but she's more susceptible to pain and bruising."

Bruce ignored him.

"Well, you guys were affected by the same bomb," Tony said, "But the one that exploded with her was less reactive than yours since she expanded on it from your previous notes. So it takes her longer to 'transform'. But she isn't as controlled as you, so she's like a legitimate time bomb. If she ever masters this, she may never be forced to transform again. You have a crossing point, but she probably won't."

Bruce stared at the notes, it took him a certain accelerated heart rate and that was his point but Charlotte could transform from a small heart rate but then again she could transform from an extremely high heart rate and then again at a normal heart rate.

She was all over or nothing at all.

"Do you still think she's a threat?" Bruce asked.

"I don't know," Tony asked, "We're kind of similar. She's been betrayed by those close to her and you get a lot of anger from that. I took it all out by getting back at the people who went against me. But she just went off the grid and started teaching. She's probably always at war with herself. She could turn on us or herself at any time or become blinded by vengance."

"Do you know how insane you sound right now Stark?" Bruce asked, "She wants to be a part of the Avengers. She wants to use this to avenge her own life. You don't have to get back at everyone who betrays you. She just wants her life back."

"But, it's human nature," Tony argued, "to seek revenge."

"Not everyone wants revenge," Bruce muttered but ended the conversation.

"I can't believe she can shoot lasers," Tony said, "Or heat rays, whatever, I should get that installed on my suit. Why didn't I think of this sooner? I was so focused on my hands."

"She didn't use that during the fight for Manhattan," Bruce said.

Tony nodded. They heard footsteps coming up the stars and Tony quickly shut everything down.

* * *

Charlotte blew out a sigh as she saw Stark Tower looming into her view. She thought about Bruce. He had been so nice to her in the month she stayed at Stark Tower. But he had kept a safe distance. A friendly distance. Besides that kiss they shared, they kept most of their interactions purely platonic. Charlotte sighed again, was she going to die alone?

After that show she laughed at herself. You're so dumb Charlotte, she thought.

Walking into Stark Tower she bumped into Pepper.

"Oh sorry, Dr. Carlson," Pepper said hurriedly.

"You can call be Charlotte, Pepper," Charlotte said with a soft smile.

"Are you okay?" Pepper asked. Charlotte hesitated. "I've been Tony Stark's assistant for years, I know if you're lying. But I will gladly walk away if you don't want to talk about it."

Charlotte bit her lip, "My ex is getting married."

"Oh sweat heart," Pepper said, "Come let's go into the kitchen."

In the kitchen, it was completely empty.

"Do you still have feelings for him?" Pepper asked him.

"I don't think so," Charlotte said, "I thought I had gotten over him, but he broke up with me all at once, I didn't think

anything was going wrong. It was just sudden and I didn't exactly fall out of love-he did, I guess."

Pepper was nodding, "You still loved him when he broke up with you."

"Well, yeah, he was amazing," Charlotte said, "It was my first love, I've never loved anyone like that, before or after."

"Did you know that I broke up with a long term boyfriend of mine because of Tony," Pepper said.

"No I didn't."

"Yeah, I wasn't even going out with him, he was still serial sleeping with other woman and I knew that if I felt this bothered by all of that, I knew that my relationship wasn't like I thought it was. If I loved my boyfriend that much I wouldn't be that bothered by Tony's habits. And it really bothered me because I didn't love Tony either, I thought he was an arrogant asshole but his habits still bothered me as if I WAS his girlfriend."

Charlotte looked at Pepper. She had been harboring feelings for Tony, pre accident. Before he became Iron Man. She didn't know that much about pre Tony but apparently he was more of an arrogant jackass than he was now. And that was saying something.

"What I'm trying to say is that, if your boyfriend left you because of something you couldn't control, he didn't see the relationship the way you did-he didn't think he could handle it and gave up without trying. And you did still love him and everyone still has some feeling for their first love but you will find love again, it's not always a onetime thing. It won't be for you either. I see the way you and Bruce look at each other. There's something there. Explore that, you might find love. If you don't you'll at least get back into the dating game."

Charlotte rushed at Pepper and hugged her, "Thank you."

"No problem," Pepper said giving her a smile.

Charlotte walked to the elevator hoping that Bruce was still in the main research lab. If he wasn't going to do anything about their kiss, she would. She was strong and independent and all that.

She pushed open the glass doors and found Tony sitting on his desk with his chin resting on his fist and Bruce over by her research section shaking his head.

"What's up Tony?" Charlotte asked.

"I'm trying to think about how to install laser vision without obstructing my visor's vision," Tony mused.

Tony caught the eye of Bruce who was shaking his head frantically at Tony mouthing 'NO'.

"Why would you want laser vision?" Charlotte asked.

"So there's more than one member on the team with it," Tony said ignoring Bruce. He was being subtle, the man needed to keep his panties on straight.

"What do you mean?" Charlotte asked bewildered, "Someone has laser vision?"

Mentally she was sifting through the Avengers for possible contenders:

Thor- God of Thunder he just had his hammer thing, it wouldn't be probable for him to have laser vision.

Clint and Natasha- nope both mortals, pretty exceptional mortals but mortals nonetheless.

Steve- nope the serum only enhanced his human form, it didn't add anything supernatural like to his person.

Bruce- no, the Hulk was a rage monster, but it wasn't shoot lasers form your eyes rage, just big muscular rage.

None of them seemed plausible except for Tony. But if he didn't have that originally, then who did?

Wait. Charlotte stared at Tony who was still deep in thought. Bruce saw the realization coloring her face and mentally face palmed.

It was official. Tony Stark was the stupidest genius ever.

* * *

The ending is a shoutout to all my reviewers and followers that expressed their love for my cliffhangers ;)


	12. Chapter 12

**Author's Note:**

Sorry this is so delayed. But I live on the East Coast where Hurricane Sandy affected the most so finding power has been hard to find and when I got power I've had alot of things to catch up on school wise and family wise. So I'm so sorry for the dealy!

Enjoy the next chapter!

* * *

12.

"Wait," Charlotte said slowly, "You mean me? I'm the teammate with the laser vision?"

Tony just stared at her then looked away seeming to slip back into his thoughts. That or he was playing a childish and thoroughly agitating game of 'I can't see you, you can't see me'. Bruce wined, if they weren't deep in the doghouse already, Tony just drilled them a whole new path.

"It is me," Charlotte confirmed taking a step towards Tony. It was a warning step with a menacing undertone.

"Don't test me Stark," Charlotte nearly growled out, "After all it seems you know I have laser vision. I could roast you alive."

Tony sighed in annoyance as if Charlotte was the one inconveniencing HIM. As if it was Charlotte that had snooped through a file that basically illustrated her entire life through words, pictures and video all stored on a drive you could carry in your pocket. As if it was Charlotte that had betrayed him. As if it was Charlotte that had a lack of trust in his moral character.

"Please tell me that you asked Fury or some government agent that tested me for the information regarding the extent of my powers," Charlotte said.

Bruce closed his eyes and turned away. He didn't want to see the flash of hope in her hazel eyes that maybe, just maybe, they didn't violate her trust or the look of disappointment or anger that would surely follow once Tony confirmed they did.

Charlotte stared at Tony. Tony Stark-genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist. Her newest partner, newest teammate, and newest friend. He couldn't have went through her files and snooped through her life wondering if she was hiding something valuable from him or if she was some kind of double agent. He couldn't possibly think that. She hadn't done anything to make him think that.

"We looked through your files," tony said finally.

With that confirmed Charlotte felt her heart clench and drop at the same time. It reminded her of when her mom and dad told her not to come home after her accident. She didn't blame them though. They were wary of her as they should have been. She was unstable, an experiment gone horribly wrong. But with Tony and Bruce and the other Avengers, she felt a sense of belonging. They were all different, dangerous and unstable. She thought there was an understanding amongst them. A sense of trust and mutual respect. Apparently not.

"You went through my file," Charlotte repeated.

"With good reason," Tony said holding his head up.

Oh this is rich, Charlotte thought. The great Tony Stark was going to smooth talk his way out of the mess he created, wasn't he.

"You violated my trust," Charlotte said throwing her hands up in the air, "What 'good' reason could you possibly have?"

"First off, I never violated anything," Tony stated confidently, "Never did you say to not access your files."

"It was implied, Stark," Charlotte cried in exasperation, "Why did you even have the need to look at my files in the first place? Did you not trust me?"

Tony was silent.

"You don't trust me?" Charlotte whispered, taking a step back.

Bruce opened his eyes. There it was. The look of disappointment on Charlotte's face was so prominent and heartbreaking he wanted to bury his face in his hands. He should have stopped Tony. He should have just walked away from the situation. He should have never gotten involved. Anything Tony does leads to disaster, chaos or arguing.

"You can't blame us," Tony said, "You were just thrust upon us, we didn't know anything about you."

"You were all just thrust upon me," Charlotte countered, "We were all thrust upon each other. But you don't see me researching your files. You don't see me suspecting you of not being trustworthy. I thought after fighting in the battle of Manhattan together there would be a high degree of trust. I know I trust you and everyone else on the team."

So much thrusting, Tony thought. He almost said something but there was a flash in Charlotte's eyes that reminded him she had laser vision and his suit was not currently in the room.

"I have a history of people I trust going against me," Tony argued thinking about Obadiah and how he had trusted him but he had been selling his inventions to terrorists and slander the name of Stark Industries, "It's hard for me to trust openly."

"Oh and you think that I don't have a history of people ruining my trust," Charlotte seethed, "You should know all about the people that walked out of my life seeing as though you read my file."

"I don't understand why this has got your underwear so twisted up in a knot," Tony said with an eye roll, "You can read my file if you want."

"It's not about that," Charlotte exploded her voice taking on an almost bird like screech, "Your life may be public property, but mine isn't. You can't just root around about my life and expect me to not get defensive or feel slightly betrayed."

"You're overreacting," Tony said. He felt as though this should have dismissed the conversation, ending it completely but Charlotte kept going.

"No I'm not overreacting, if you looked through Natasha's ledger without her knowing, she'd have you on your ass so fast your suit or brains or money wouldn't be able to save you. So I'm behaving quit normally for the circumstances I've been thrust upon."

Charlotte stood there staring at Tony, "I haven't even seen what's inside my file. The only reason I know about the laser vision was because it happened once during the time I was imprisoned. I don't know the extent of whatever my powers are. The fact that you do is even worse."

"Then read your file," Tony said with a shrug, "It's not a big deal."

"No big deal?" Charlotte repeated, "This thing ruined my life. It was an accident. I didn't make it happen or sign up for it to happen like you all did it was forced upon me like some kind of virus I can't cure. I don't want to know about something that I didn't want to happen to me in the first place. I haven't reached a point in my life where I've accepted it. If I could go back and change it I would do so in a heartbeat."

"That's another reason why we wanted to look," Tony said pulling out his last card and possibly pulling Bruce into the line of fire with him, "It was for curiosity's sake. The bomb you were caught up in was the same bomb Bruce was ruined by but it was modified. We wanted to see how your side affects differed from his side effects."

"We," Charlotte repeated. She turned to Bruce, "You were involved in this too? I thought you just came when I came."

"No," Bruce said quietly, "I've been here this whole time."

"You didn't try and stop him or anything," Charlotte said, her face screwing up in a distraught expression, "Do you not trust me either. Do you think I'm some kind of double agent or something. I thought...I thought that..."

Bruce rubbed his face, "I didn't think that you were a double agent or anything at all, I was doing it for curiosities sake."

"You are the only one besides me who didn't sign up for this whole 'superhero' business," Charlotte said turning away from Tony to walk towards Bruce, "Would you want Tony to read your file behind your back?"

"It's not that," Bruce said, "I wanted to know how your side affects differed from mine. I know the extent of how the Hulk controls me, I wanted to know the extent of how your side affects controlled you. I thought that I could help you or something if I understood better."

"You could have just asked me," Charlotte whispered. Her eyes started to water. "You could have just asked."

Bruce felt like the worst person in the world as he watched her eyes fill up with tears but he still felt the need to defend himself.

"I would have, but you said it yourself, you transform when you're angry, anxious or feel threatened but you must have felt two of those three emotions during your argument with Tony just now but you didn't transform at all," Bruce said, "You don't know the extent of your powers."

"But Bruce, if you wanted to know and you gave me that reason, I would have opened my file with you," Charlotte answered, her voice cracking, "It would have been easier to read it for the first time if it was with someone who understood what was going on like you understand it."

Bruce walked around to reach out for her but Charlotte back away.

"Both of you are to blame equally," Charlotte said, "Tony you may think that this is no big deal but that was probably the biggest thing in my life at this moment and you looking into it feels like you are staring into my soul. Which is uncomfortable, foreign and wrong."

Tony's confident demeanor faltered slightly. He didn't understand that was the truth. He first became 'Iron Man' when he was trapped but he didn't need to stay that way. He could have just went corporate about his problems but he had to become a metallic superhero. He didn't have to but he chose to.

"And Bruce," Charlotte said, "I thought we understood each other but we don't. At least not to the extent that I had originally thought."

With that being said, Charlotte walked quickly out of the room away from her problems, away from the anxiety that she had been going through.

Bruce stared at the place where she had been standing as did Tony. Bruce came out of his frozen state quicker than Tony did. Minutes after Charlotte left the Tower Bruce turned to Tony.

"Where does she live?" Bruce asked.

"What?"

"Where does she live," Bruce repeated, "What's her address?"

Tony informed him the address bewildered and Bruce left the Tower as quick as Charlotte did.

...

Charlotte stormed into her apartment and slammed the door behind her.

"Charly," Annabelle called form her comfortable spot on the couch in front of their TV, "What's wrong?"

"If someone went through your entire life, looked through all your secrets and basically stared into your soul without you knowing would you be angry?" Charlotte asked.

"Yeah, I'd be pissed," Annabelle asked, "Why do you suddenly want to know?"

"Tony and Bruce read my files," Charlotte said, "The ones that the government had on me when they were experimenting on me after the bomb accident."

"Was there anything bad on it?" Annabelle asked. She moved her legs from their outstretched position to sitting up straight as Charlotte took a seat on the cushion next to her.

"I don't know I haven't read it," Charlotte said,

"You haven't read it?" Annabelle asked, "But wouldn't you want to read it, to understand why they did why they did? For closure's sake."

"It's hard, Anna," Charlotte whispered looking at her, "I can't look at it because that would mean that I accept it, that I've accepted everything that's going on with my life and my accident."

"Or it could mean that your brave that you're ready to move on to the next chapter of your life, the government experimentation was the biggest part of your life and also the worst," Annabelle said, "It's wearing a winter jacket, you have to shed it off in the summer time."

Charlotte stared at her little sister. Her little sister seven years her junior. She was a philosopher. She didn't know what had caused her to think like that. Annabelle definitely saw the world and life differently then Charlotte did. She didn't know how she felt like that.

"I just don't know if I ready for it," Charlotte said biting her lip.

"I thought you had accepted it when you fought at the battle, when you finally used your power. When you used your so called curse for good," Annabelle reasoned.

"It's just," Charlotte started, "I don't even know, I don't think I even understand. I've spent years of my life thinking that my powers were the worst thing about myself. I've just been thinking that everything was wrong with me and I've just started thinking about this whole thing in a positive light."

"Well," Annabelle said touching her big sisters arm, "If you ever need someone to talk about or read the file or need moral support in general. I'm here you know, I figure you could use some family."

Charlotte sniffled and cried for the first time. After the whole argument and the tensions in Stark Tower it took those simple words: I figure you could use some family to send her over the edge. Tension and arguments were something she was used to by now. Familiar ever. But family love was not.

The two sisters were hugging when the doorbell rang. Charlotte pulled away and kissed her sister on the cheek before walking over to her door. She opened it without looking through the peephole. She was rewarded for her thoughtlessness with an eyeful of Bruce Banner.

She froze and her grip tightened on the door handle. She was silent, not really wanting to invite him in. Torn between what she discovered about his betrayal to the leftover feelings she felt when she rushed up those stairs to tell Bruce she had feelings for him beyond platonic.

"Charlotte," Bruce said and she got tingles down her spine. Welcomed tingles down her back unlike other ones she got during transformation.

"I want to understand," he said, "I thought we did as well and I still think we can." He took a deep breath. "I may have already seen the file, but you haven't. And I still think I can help you read it for the first time."

"Really?" Charlotte asked her voice soft.

"Of course," Bruce answered with a small smile, "I care about you Charlotte, I want to help. I know it wasn't easy to control this...accident...and I want to help you a way I wasn't."

Charlotte studied him before smiling softly, "Okay, Bruce, how about we meet up for lunch tomorrow, bring a tablet."

Bruce nodded and walked away from her door. Charlotte closed her apartment door and leaned against it, taking a breath feeling like a teenager girl before prom.

"Thank god," Annabelle said. Charlotte looked towards her and her little sister smirked back, "He is more qualified for those kinds of things. I'm still just human. But I will be here demanding the details about this date."

* * *

Ohhh, the wait is over they're having the first date! Excitment.

Review, Favorite, Follow! I love getting reviews they're so much fun!


	13. Chapter 13

**Author's Note:**

This is kind of short and I'm sorry if you were expecting the date to be this chapter. BUT I had to clarify this because I felt like Bruce asking Charlotte to lunch was extremely rushed. So this a transitional chapter! Sorry don't destroy me!

But Enjoy the Chapter!

* * *

13.

"So just like that?" Annabelle asked.

"Just like what?" Charlotte questioned looking over at her sister.

They were sitting on the couch watching a rerun of the Big Bang Theory. It was early, well early for Annabelle, Charlotte was up at this point usually. Usually she was in Stark Tower working with Tony but she wasn't going in today. She was still angry with Tony. And with Bruce too, but on a lesser scale.

"You just forgave Bruce and now you're going to lunch with him," Annabelle said rolling her eyes, "Charly, you came in here all pissed off and yelling things about revenge and whatnot. Now you just forgive him when he comes around knocking and making moony eyes at you with promises to buy you food and make you smile. Blah, Blah."

Charlotte stared at her sister with wide eyes, "We're just going to lunch. It's not like it's a date."

"Please Charly," Annabelle said with an eye roll, "Don't make your life a crappy romantic comedy, we both know you think it's a date. And we both know you want it to be a date. Just do me that one favor."

Charlotte huffed, "What should I do? Hold a grudge?"

"Um yeah," Annabelle said, raising an eyebrow at her, "Like a normal person."

Charlotte snorted, "It's complicated. It's hard for me to hold grudges."

"I could teach you," Annabelle said, "It's really easy."

Charlotte gave a soft chuckle, "It's not exactly something I want to learn Anna. I know how to but it's hard for me to. Like when Mom and Dad told me I couldn't come back home, I wanted to be mad, I wanted to be able to curse the world and the people that lived in it. I wanted to be able to scorn Mom and Dad's name, vow that I would never see them again and vow that I never wanted to."

Charlotte sighed and rubbed her face, lifting her glasses off her nose, "But I couldn't. I stayed in California even after my accident and I still hoped that they would call me like that said they did to invite me home with open arms."

"But they didn't and I waited for nothing," Charlotte said leaning against the couch, "So when it was confirmed that Bruce and Tony looked through my files, I couldn't scorn their names once I thought about it. It was like I was staying angry just because I thought I should. I was angry at them when I first heard but after talking with you it just made me feel like I was overreacting with Bruce."

"Overreacting?" Annabelle asked.

"Yeah," Charlotte nodded looking down at her lap, "I mean, Tony I'm still pretty pissed at but I understand why he did it, I don't like it but looking at it from his perspective I can sort of understand it. But with Bruce, it's not the same thing. He and I did have an understanding between ourselves. But the difference is that Bruce can accept his 'condition' where I haven't yet. So even if I don't completely forgive him, I do want him to be the first person I look at the file with. I feel he will bring me back down to Earth and prevent me from being too excitable and overly emotional about it. You know offer a perspective from someone who has already been there and back?"

Annabelle nodded slowly, "I'd still be pissed at him."

"Well, I'm not you Anna," Charlotte said with a smirk, "It was kind of my fault anyway."

"How?" Annabelle said her face twisting in shock.

"Well, I didn't look at my file in the first place," Charlotte reasoned, "And I got too defensive about it."

Anna slapped the armrest of her side of the couch, "You're always saying that."

"Saying what?"

"That it your fault," Annabelle said with a frown, "That it's your fault Mom and Dad don't want you home, that it's your fault I'm going to art school instead of being a scientist, that it's your fault your coworkers went through your entire life story, that it's your fault you were even in this accident in the first place."

"Well when you say it like that you make it sound like I don't have a backbone or something," Charlotte muttered.

"Charly, I know you," Annabelle said, "Well I know some of you. But the part I know is that you are taking the entirety of the blame when in the end it was just an accident. And I get it, it was pretty horrific and it ruined your life. But as callous as it might sound, it's in the past. It ruined your future then and your letting it ruin your future now. You need to get over that accident or it will take over your life, completely."

"But it has taken over my life," Charlotte insisted.

"No it hasn't, you just think it has," Annabelle said with a nod, "You still have control over your life. You still have the mental capacity and resources available to control this...whatever. Look at Dr. Banner, he did it. I'm not saying your life is going to go back to normal, like it was before, but at least you can find a new route to happiness. I mean your halfway there. You've utilized this ability or whatever you want to call it. You've tapped into it and you've sort of accepted it. It's pretty amazing what you did, I saw some news footage covering the battle. It doesn't have to be a curse. It could just be a blessing in disguise."

Charlotte stared at Annabelle, "I really wish I was around to see you become this. You should really look into debates or philosophy."

"Hey, if you were around, I probably would have ended up as a scientist then all my genius would have gone to waste," Annabelle said with a shrug and a playful smile before growing serious, "Promise me, Charly, that you will try and get some kind of closure on this."

"Okay, Anna," Charlotte said with a small smile, "I will."

"Good," Annabelle said, "Now onto my life. So that guy I was telling you about in my pottery class, he and I went for coffee after class and he is actually really strange. Like he talks in Shakespearean English and completely disproves the whole chivalry is dead. I don't know whether to be immensely infatuated and aroused or on my guard because he could potentially be a rapist."

"Shakespearian English, huh?" Charlotte asked.

"Well, not hardcore Shakespearian English, but he's got a British accent so everything he says sounds like he's from the old school," Annabelle sighed, "He is so dreamy and sophisticated and he held the door open for me when we were leaving class. Charly you don't understand. He wears these pants that should not be allowed on a human being that looks as good as he does. But I mean I've only talked to him about pottery and school. That accent could be fake for all I know and he's going to end up kidnapping me or some shit like that."

Charlotte laughed and listened to her sister list all the reasons why this guy could be a rapist or her dream man.


	14. Chapter 14

**Author's Note:**

The lunch meet. It's not really romantic. It's more explanitory than fluffy. Sorry if that disappointed anyone.

Blerghh

Enjoy!

* * *

14.

Charlotte sat in a small hole in the wall eating joint somewhere in the city, squished between a bank and a law firm. She glanced around her checking her surroundings. Bruce should be here in five minutes. The city was warm, but pleasant so she decided to sit outside in the little tables outside of the actual restaurant. She poked her tablet with a finger. Her flash drive was already plugged in. Now that tablet contained her entire life, or at least her life during her time in the government facility.

Which wasn't her entire life.

Whatever was in that file did not define her.

She was still Charlotte.

She was more than just this.

Charlotte repeated those statements in her head over and over like a mantra. It was as if she didn't she would start to doubt herself and run away from the city and become a hermit.

The chair across from her little table slid across the cement underneath. Charlotte looked up and brushed a curl from her vision smiling at Bruce who gave her a small, unsure smile back.

She pushed the tablet towards him, "Let's get this over with."

"Listen, Charlotte, we don't have to look at it," Bruce said taking the device lightly in his hands, "You've still got time."

"No, no I don't Bruce," Charlotte muttered staring at the tablet, avoiding Bruce's warm gaze, "It's like the freaking plague, it's going to consume me until I die."

Bruce quirked an eyebrow at her, "Hey, Charlotte."

He took her chin in his hand gently, "Hey."

"Hi," Charlotte said as her cheeks flushed.

"Whatever this says doesn't change anything," Bruce said.

"It's like you can read my mind," Charlotte said sighing dreamily before pulling away and clamping her hand over her mouth-eyes wide and cheeks pink.

Bruce chuckled as he turned on the tablet to the file. He tapped a few things on the screen and turned it towards Charlotte.

She took a breath let out a breathy sigh as she pushed her glasses up her nose and started to read.

Test Subject's Name: Charlotte Isabel Carlson

Reason for Tests: Over-exposure to gamma radiation from a test bomb.

Side Effects: Appears to have the ability to go through a mutant transformation.

Threat Level: As of current-Minimal

Charlotte skimmed the notes on the bomb, the chemical formulas and the engineering. She didn't need to re-read that, she lived it. She built it.

Test #1: Adrenaline A

Administer Adrenaline A causing an elevation in heart rate.

Normal: 65 beats per minute

After Adrenaline A: 206 beats per minute

-At rest there are no signs of transformation but once the drug was administered heart rate escalated quickly.

-Administered when subject was asleep.

-Rate spiked from 70 to 206.

-Once reaching 206 beats per minute, subjects heart rate went down to 110 beats per minute.

-Maximum blood pressure for woman of her age is 188 beats per minute.

Hypothesis: Transformation is caused due to an escalated heart rate above the maximum.

Charlotte looked up at Bruce who was nodding his head.

"That's what happens with me," Bruce said, "If I get above 220, I 'Hulk out' as Tony so eloquently puts it."

Charlotte scratched her head, brushing her fingers through her hair. She let out a breath and kept reading.

Test #2 Adrenaline B

Administer Adrenaline B to not cause any elevation in heart rate.

Normal: 65 beats per minute

After Adrenaline B: 180 beats per minute.

-Heart rate elevated 10 beats.

-No transformation.

Hypothesis remains the same.

Test #3 Adrenaline C

Administer Adrenaline C to cause heart rate to raise to 100 beats per minute.

Test invalid.

Test subject used force to ensure the experiment would see no end.

-No matter: test subject transformed.

Heart Rate: 110 beats per minute.

-Still normal, akin to jogging.

-Test subject transformed.

Hypothesis needs to be re-evaluated.

Charlotte looked up at Bruce, "This is because I transform when I feel angry or anxious or threatened."

"Yes and so do I, but then it became about being angry," Bruce said, "But I still have a cutoff point. My heart is different than 'normal' humans. It goes over the maximum 220 beats all the way up to 280 beats. That's my cutoff, if I get in that realm of 240 to 280 I go."

"But for you, it's different," Bruce continued, "You have inconsistencies, the high heart rate sets you off-yes, but you transform at normal beats, too. But then you don't, it differs."

"You were able to transform on the S.H.I.E.L.D. ship," Bruce said, "Almost out of nowhere."

"My heart rate was increased with adrenaline," Charlotte said, "Not necessarily anger, anxiety or threat, just a combination of things I couldn't control causing my heart to beat faster."

"Was your heart beating during your argument with Tony?" Bruce asked.

Charlotte thought back to the argument. She didn't notice during the argument but her heart was racing. Just with hurt, nervousness, anger, betrayal, violation. A combination of emotions that should have set her transformation off. But it didn't.

She nodded her head, "But I didn't transform. I wasn't even completely angry at Tony, that's probably why. I just felt violated."

"I have a theory," Bruce started, "Care to hear?"

Charlotte nodded mutely.

"I think you have control over this," Bruce said, "You might not notice this yet but you've transformed when you wanted to escape-mentally and physically-like when you feel threatened. You've triggered your own transformation, they've just been so directly related to your heart rate at times everyone's assumed the transformation was due to that."

Charlotte's eyebrows furrowed.

"You're heart rate was elevated during your argument and yes your heart rate does go above the maximum like mine does but that was only due to administered drugs," Bruce continued using his arms to gesticulate at some points, "You transformed at the extreme but didn't transform at a combined heart rate that WAS higher than your normal BPH."

Charlotte rubbed her forehead, "I'm so confused."

"I'm saying that since you got a less extreme exposure to radiation you have less extreme side effects," Bruce said, "I learned to kind of control the Hulk at times, we unite at times but we still remain two different beings. But since the other side of you isn't living and doesn't consume you, you can learn to control your turnings."

"Do you think that would work?" Charlotte asked.

"Well, it's a thought, we could try it," Bruce said with a shrug, " I can't promise any solid results, but it's worth a shot."

"Yeah," Charlotte nodded, "I'd like that. I don't want this to control me."

"That's the secret," Bruce said.

"What do you mean?" Charlotte asked looking up from the tablet.

"Like my secret is that I'm always angry," Bruce explained, "You're secret is that what happened to you, never controlled you in the first place."

Charlotte's eyes flickered from her tablet to Bruce's eyes. From what Bruce said she did have some control over her transformations. What she was really angry about was what happened after the transformations: the pain, the blurred eye sight, the over active hearing and the sometimes paralyzing after effect a long transformation had. What she didn't have control over was this whole thing happening in the first place. Which made her bitter.

She thought back to her previous transformations that had happened since she started with S.H.I.E.L.D.

Agent Coulson coming to her after the lecture. He had made her over eager and she had felt threatened by that. She had wanted to leave, wanted to forget that he had ever been there in the first place, so she transformed.

Hulk being attacked then falling out of the flying ship. Charlotte wanted to escape as well. She wanted to help the Hulk. She knew what it was like to be different and to have no control over what had happened to her. But she also understood, in the back of her mind, that the Avengers needed the Hulk and that they needed to fight. So she transformed because she wanted to help.

Charlotte reached over and touched Bruce's hand with his. She sent him a warm smile. As she pulled back her fingers his reached up for hers, entwining them together. Charlotte flushed before continuing to read the tablet, enjoying the feel of her hand in his.

Charlotte stared at the tablet, her entire file opening up to her. The chemical makeup of the radiation used to transform her, all the government's tests and results and the lists of her 'abilities'.

...

Bruce had brought her back to her apartment two hours after they first met. Charlotte smiled at him slightly. She was still shaken by what she had discovered about her powers and her abilities. She was shaken by what he had told her. She was shaken about this new way she was seeing the situation. She was shaken because her entire world was being turned upside down, the way she thought was being changed, her beliefs were being falsified. And the scariest part was she didn't care, that she was perfectly find with everything she learned.

For some reason, she liked it. She liked this new sense of purpose and control over a seemingly out of her control situation.

"How are you feeling?" Bruce asked when they reached her apartment door.

"Strangely," Charlotte said, "I'm feeling okay. I'm sure that I'll start over analyzing everything once this all sinks in. Then I'll freak out, probably take one step back after I took two steps forward today and I'll have something akin to an anxiety attack."

Bruce chuckled, "Naturally."

"For me, yes," Charlotte nodded, "I don't exactly take things in a smooth stride. It's more of a back and forth, back and forth, collapsing in a fetal position before I make some kind of breakthrough or revelation. Then it's all okay. It's complicated, but I've never really had my life go out of plan before. It's strange."

"Yes, but people learn from strange," Bruce said, "And they grow from strange."

Charlotte smiled softly as she turned the key in the lock to her apartment. She looked up at Bruce, staring at him through her eyelashes. She leaned up and kissed him on the lips.

Her lips brushed Bruce's softly, like a feather on skin. Heat rushed to her face. It was a small kiss but it felt lovely. Heavenly even. Like a beautiful prelude to an even better symphony.

Charlotte bit her lip and pushed the door going into her apartment.

"Thank you Bruce," Charlotte whispered staring at him shutting her door behind her. She leaned against it today, her heart fluttering.

Yup.

That happened. You have so much control over situations, Charlotte thought to herself with a humorous sarcasm. She let out an uncensored giggle. Yeah, things were looking up.

...

Across the country in an abandoned building in San Francisco, California a man dressed in black stared at a small, beat up television. The man reclined into a plush armchair, the only furniture in the entire room, along with the television, and a file on his lap.

He reached out a leather gloved hand and clicked a remote, pressing the replay button.

Wide unblinking eyes stared at the television, watching intently at the screen. His eyes followed the woman with wings flying through the sky along with a man in an iron suit, fighting in the battle of Manhattan. He watched as she opened her mouth letting out a scream, one that was soundless through the television, that knocked out multiple alien adversaries out of the air sending them spiraling to their death.

The man watched this for a moment before opening the brown folder file. His eyes scanned over chemical molecules, formulas, and components to a bomb using gamma radiation. His eyes scanned over side effects and various tests.

A twitchy, nervous looking man in a white lab coat entered the abandoned room.

"Sir," the scientist said, "The substance is ready. We tested it on our lab rats but we need a human subject."

"Brilliant," the man dressed in black said.

His eyes locked on a name. The subject of this file. The inspiration of this little 'project'.

Charlotte Isabel Carlson.


	15. Chapter 15

**Author's Note:**

Next installment. Sorry for the slight delay.

Thanks for reviewing, following or favoriting!

Enjoy!

* * *

15.

Charlotte took off her glasses, placing them in the pocket protector of her lab coat. She smirked to herself remembering the last time she had been wearing a white lab coat. Then it had a S.H.I.E.L.D. insignia on it, this time it was a Stark Enterprise one. However, this lab coat was obviously made for her, hence her name on the side not covered with a pocket protector, whereas the S.H.I.E.L.D. one had been thrown in her direction in a half hazard manner once she entered the base.

She slipped a pair of safety glasses in place of her ordinary glasses. Her fingers sifted through empty test tubes and she began to conduct her experiment, almost robotically. She had conducted this experiment, previously, numerous times. Sometimes with Tony (they had made up, but weren't as close as they were in the beginning-something Charlotte expected and knew would take time), sometimes with Bruce, mostly by herself. Every time the experiment was proved invalid or inconclusive or it just up and blew up.

Charlotte hated when the experiments blew up, so did Bruce. Tony, however, thought it was just a hoot and a half.

Charlotte sighed as she poured minimal amounts of acid not even really paying attention at this point. She didn't know why they bothered with this experiment. Her mind was completely aware of what was going on, her analytical mind at least. Her conscious mind, the one that hated the repetitive experiment, had already wandered away. She stared intently at the beakers in front of her while inside she was thinking about her and Bruce.

It had been two months since they had gone through Charlotte's files. She was right. She had over thought it, became anxious about it before finally accepting it. Her and Bruce had been working together to try and control it. So far this consisted of Charlotte standing in the middle of an empty room at Stark Tower, shutting her eyes tightly, and screaming in her mind to transform into a mutant bird for god's sake.

She rubbed her forehead, over her safety glasses, with her clothed bicep. She set the test tube on the rack and placed the beaker in the sink washing her hands quickly.

A pair of arms wrapped around her waist and her heart beat quickly and cheeks flushed.

"Bruce," Charlotte giggled, "Stop, I could have been experimenting."

"But you weren't," Bruce muttered placing his chin on her shoulder.

Two months of time had been kind to Charlotte and Bruce. They both agreed upon another date but then Tony made a breakthrough in his and Charlotte's research in green technology. Thus explaining the numerous experiments of the exact same variety. So Charlotte and Bruce agreed that once they had a second to themselves they would jump into the dating pool.

Charlotte sighed and rubbed her now clean hands over her eyelids.

"What's up Charly?" Bruce said. Bruce had taken to calling her Charly when he had heard Annabelle calling her that over speaker phone.

Annabelle wanted to meet Bruce. Like so much it was slightly embarrassing. Charlotte didn't want Anna to meet him and scare him off before she even started dating him. Annabelle had let slip, accidentally (and she was probably regretting it now) that she had missed out on being the annoying younger sibling that embarrassed her older sibling. While she didn't have any embarrassing childhood stories to tell Bruce, Annabelle did have a plethora of embarrassing things Charlotte did, in the now.

And despite her innocent and intellectual, alibi extremely confused and conflicted at times, front she didn't look like the person who watched re-runs of Hannah Montana for fun. However, she definitely looked like the kind of woman who hasn't had a date since she was in her early twenties (connected to the innocent and confused). And despite her scientific background, she didn't look like the person who burned everything she tried to cook. For god's sake, she mixed highly corrosive and explosive acids for a living, she had an incredibly steady hand and an above average functioning brain, she should be able to cook a simple chicken.

Charlotte knew Bruce was already extremely educated about her many flaws. He didn't need to know that she was incompetent in the kitchen, a dating nave or had bad taste and choice in television comedy. According to Annabelle's super hot, super suave British pottery friend, all those were turn offs.

So Charlotte decided Annabelle and Bruce would not meet until they were either broken up or madly in love that nothing could separate them.

Charlotte looked at Bruce and sighed again, "Tony has me doing this experiment for the umpteenth time. It's not going to work, the components don't mix, they are too reactive to each other. It'll either explode or not work at all. They are two extremes-no middle ground whatsoever. But for some reason Tony thinks this is genius and our breakthrough. I don't buy it, we need to go a different way."

Bruce snickered at her misfortune in having such a stubborn partner, "I'm sorry." He gripped her tighter and whispered suggestively in her ear, "Is there anything I can do to help?"

"Yeah," Charlotte said turning in his arms and staring him intensely, "Yeah you can."

Their relationship, teetering on the line of platonic and romantic, had become extremely flirty and overly friendly. Neither was adamantly against a couple of kisses here and there.

Bruce's eyes lit up.

"You could join our research," Charlotte said enthusiastically.

She twisted herself out of Bruce's arms and spun around with flourish. She winced as her braid whipped her in the face as she turned. Taking off her glasses, quickly replacing them with her normal ones, Charlotte looked at Bruce intently.

"No," Bruce nodded, now deflated.

"Please," Charlotte said rushing up towards him.

Bruce snorted, "Do you think I haven't thought about it? Here's the answer: you are agitated by Tony's stubbornness, so I'll be agitated as well. And this isn't my life's work like yours or Tony's. I don't have as much invested, so it'll be quicker that I snap."

Charlotte pouted up at him. Her hands rested on his chest.

"And besides," Bruce said rubbing her arms soothingly, "If I'm irritated then who will be here to comfort you when you get exasperated?"

Charlotte fought the grin that was making its way across her face in order to keep up her pout but she failed when Bruce started wiggling his eyebrows at her.

"Fine," Charlotte said ignoring Bruce's smugness, "But you will be required for all acts of comfort."

"Gladly," Bruce said as Charlotte stood on her tip toes and kissed him.

Charlotte loved it when they kissed. It was nothing like Jason's. Even though she knew she shouldn't, she couldn't help but compare the two. But she hadn't been in a relationship for a while and he was her only previous one so she had nothing else to compare. She was so inexperienced.

But all she knew was that Jason's kisses were quick and dry and what seemed to be extremely passionate to her when she was eighteen was actually just a kiss, nothing all that special. Bruce's were different.

She wasn't saying that she was never in love with Jason, because she was. But that was it. It was past tense. Bruce was future tense.

And boy was he a good kisser.

"Tony Stark is entering the room," Tony said, as usual ruining the fleeting moment Charlotte and Bruce were sharing, "Please remove your face from your partner's face and listen to me speak."

Charlotte pulled out of the kiss to glare at Tony. Bruce rolled his eyes , his back towards Tony. He sighed and looked at him.

"What do you want Tony?" Bruce asked with another eye roll.

"Well," Tony said turning dramatically, "I have been notified that we, the Avengers that is, are going to be honored with a banquet. You know, for saving the city and all."

Charlotte's eyebrows furrowed. She knew that Tony was open about his 'secret identity' and Thor didn't have one but she wasn't so sure about Natasha or Clint. Weren't they secret agents on the side too? But only Bruce, Steve and Tony had masks or disguises.

"But," Charlotte started.

"It's not going to be everyone in New York or the country," Tony continued, "It's mainly government officials, people of high esteem, benefactors, donators, etcetera-etcetera. Anyone who wants to keep a secret identity, a secret will be able to."

Bruce nodded, "Is this sponsored by Stark Industries?"

"No," Tony said shaking his head, "It's sponsored by some head of a fancy research facility in California."

"Really?" Charlotte asked, intrigued, "Which one?"

"Some place called Claw &Co.," Tony said with a shrug.

Charlotte's eyebrows drew together in confusion, "The research facility? Are you sure?"

"Yup," Tony said, he walked over to Charlotte's work bench, "Did you do the experiment again?"

Charlotte didn't hear Tony. She had heard of that facility before. Claw & Co. She had a vague image of a man in a black lab coat and tinted safety goggles with an eagle claw as an insignia standing next to the head of the facility she was kept at after her accident. She didn't know what the claw meant at the time, but maybe it was from this other facility. And they were sponsoring this gala, huh?

Charlotte shook her head, coming out of her daze, "What did you say Tony?"

"The experiment," Tony said putting on a pair of safety goggles, "It hasn't reacted."

"Yes, it won't Tony," Charlotte said with an agitated sigh, "No matter how many times we repeated it won't react. It is won't crumble under your stubbornness. The chemicals and acid don't care."

Tony huffed taking her experiment over to his work lab.

"Were you okay just then?" Bruce asked looking at her with concern.

"Yeah, I'm okay," Charlotte said plastering a grin on her face.

It was the truth. This was probably just a coincidence. Claw & Co. was probably a wealthy company, a successful facility that probably admired Tony's research, knew he was part of the Avengers and wanted to honor him and the team.

Yeah, Charlotte nodded to herself, that's it, a coincidence.

...

The man in black, now out of his abandoned room in San Francisco, walked into a white, shiny, fully modern research lab with confidence. It was almost as if he owned the place, he thought sarcastically. Not almost, he did.

He entered the room looking at all his white lab coated workers, running through the tests diligently without waking their subject.

He reached the head researcher, the same nervous, jittery man who had came to him in his abandoned building.

"How is Test Subject B?" the man in black asked.

The jittery head of research jumped turning around quickly, "She has responded well to the test serum. We injected her with it and she didn't show any fatal side effects. It was the appropriate time to start on humans."

The man in black turned away from the twitchy man to look at Test Subject B. The young woman had black hair, closed eyes and a pair of translucent, yellow tinged wings and black antennae.

"It's been two months," the man stated, "What are her specialties?"

"Her specialties resemble that of a wasp," the researcher stated, "You can't see it but her stingers can be sheathed from the skin of her forearms and depending on the intensity of the stab, can be fatal, paralyzing, or can knock a fully grown man unconscious."

"A wasp?" the man in black asked, the disgust evident in his voice.

"Yes," the jittery man said.

"The first subject affected by this gamma radiation turned into a giant rage monster that could rip metal apart with his bare hands and snap a neck with smallest fingers. The second subject became half of a vicious bird of prey with sonic screech that could knock alien and men alike unconscious or cause such intense pain they died of agony. Also, there was possibility that the subject could utilize laser vision," the man said incredulously, "And MY test subject becomes an insect a child could kill by accident."

"The radiation from the original gamma bomb cannot be re-made. We don't have the mindset Dr. Banner did in creating the bomb," the researcher said nervously, "And Dr. Carlson diluted the radiation so it wasn't as explosive, limiting the side effects-veering them away from turning anyone exposed into giant rage monsters."

"Also, we cannot expose the subjects to the amount of radiation Dr. Banner was. They would not be able to handle it. It was a one in a million chance of survival and Dr. Banner was that one. Charlotte Carlson was exposed to much less radiation,

extremely less, which is why she didn't become a She-Hulk or go six feet under. And we had to put Subject B through even less radiation than the two accidents previous."

The man in black snorted viewing Subject B with a look of disdain through his tinted goggles.

"I wouldn't dismiss it so suddenly," the researcher said suddenly becoming defensive and less jittery, "this subject can kill a man, anywhere, without setting off alarms. Perfect for sneaking into important facilities under the radar. Isn't that what you desire anyway?"

"We cannot replicate the perfect formula without a better mind," the man in goggles agreed, "We have excellent resources, but not the best."

"Yes," the jittery man said, reverting back to his natural state, "we were able to find a stable serum to inject into humans. They can kill, they can go on airplanes with their weapons. They could cause chaos unlike any other."

"Good," the man said with a smirk, "Proceed with testing. Mission starts in T minus ten days."

He straightened his lab coat drawing attention to the silver eagle claw insignia.

While he was not burdened with the genetic ability to perform brilliant acts of glorious intent. He had other resources to utilize to go through with his plans. He was, after all, the head of Claw & Co. researching facility.

* * *

**And the plot thickens!**


	16. Chapter 16

**Author's Note:**

Immensely sorry for the delay my parents are on me about goals and apprently writing cannot be one of them. So I'm sneaking this in here.

Enjoy!

* * *

16.

Charlotte took a deep breath and stared at herself in the mirror. All she saw was the same curly blonde hair pulled into a low side pony tail, same old hazel eyes, same old creamy skin prone to breakouts and the same old face she had always seen for twenty nine years. It was happening she thought as she put mascara on her eyelashes quick and methodically.

"Bruce and Charly sitting in a tree," a voice sang from behind her.

Charlotte's now made up face twisted in a grimace, "What do you want Annabelle?"

"Just to see my lovely sister off on her first date she's ever had with me to bear witness to," Anna said with a smug voice.

Charlotte rolled her eyes as she straightened her dress, "Well."

She spun around with her arms stretched out wide, "How do I look, Anna?"

Annabelle walked over to her older sister and straightened the hem of Charlotte's dress, "You look like a girl who's going on a date with the guy she's been giving moony eyes over for the last month."

Charlotte let out a breathy, sarcastic laugh, "You're cute Anna, really. Just adorable."

But the younger blonde was right. This was Charlotte and Bruce's first ACTUAL date. Sure they had kissed before, flirted, made 'moony' eyes at each other but this was their first date by themselves with little to no hope that Tony would interrupt them. It had to be perfect.

"But in all seriousness Charly, you look pretty," Annabelle said with a smile before skipping out of her older sister's room, "And due to the fact you look so pretty, I will not be in the apartment when you come home from dinner."

Charlotte stopped and widened her eyes staring at her younger sister as Annabelle waltzed out of her bedroom with an exaggerated flourish.

"Annabelle," Charlotte cried running after her sister, "You...I...Anna...what?"

"Oh please Charlotte," Annabelle said sitting on the futon couch she had pulled out.

Apparently though, she will not be sleeping there. She probably pulled it out to simply watch television.

"I am not ten years old anymore," Annabelle said, mischief gleaming in her blue eyes, "I know what goes on in your mind when you give the good doctor moony eyes."

Charlotte flushed a bright red but didn't deny anything. There was a pang evident in her heart. Annabelle was right. She wasn't ten years old anymore. She wasn't the same bright eyed, small blonde that only looked forward to trick or treating anymore. She was seventeen, a teenager verging on adulthood, in college and in some kind of deep infatuation for another around her age. Yes. She wasn't ten anymore.

Annabelle took one look at her sisters face and wrapped her in a hug, "It's okay Charly, it's weird and I completely understand."

Charlotte snickered.

The doorbell rang. Annabelle squealed before running into Charlotte's room with a manic giggle.

Charlotte rolled her eyes walking up to the door and taking a deep breath.

...

A Time Before...

The man in black stared out a window, looking out over the great city of San Francisco with his arms crossed behind his back. The nervous jittery employee, research scientist walked up to him quickly.

"What do you have for me, Dr. Lancester?" the man in black said.

The jittery man looked at his boss, the head of Claw & Co. He wondered for a brief moment what the man saw through the tinted goggles. It was quite strange: the black lab coat, rubber gloves and tinted goggles. No one ever saw his eyes, no one ever saw them flitter, no one saw them blink with uncertainty, no could see the emotion behind them.

Dr. Lancester was jealous of this, one could read his emotions easily. It was a wonder why he was always nervous, he was an open book. Better always be nervous than show anger, sadness, or the feeling that he was superior than his so called boss.

"The subject is ready for transport," Dr. Lancester said with his usual nervous tremor.

"Excellent," the man in black said with the smallest of nods towards his inferior cohort, "Proceed with the transport and work towards Phase One."

Dr. Lancester nodded walking into Research Lab number 8. It was no longer a research lab, it had been transformed into a bedroom. Well if you could call one cot, a crate for two outfits and a single mirror a bedroom than that was lab eight.

Opening the door he rested his eyes on the figure lying on the cot, not bothering to cover herself. He could see the outline of a pair of insect like wings tattooed upon the young woman's back through science. He saw the unruliness of her hair. If one looked closely enough they could see the antennae she was cursed with now. He stared at the bluish, purple, grey bruising on her wrist and forearm where his 'stingers' would unsheathed from her skin.

They did not cause the woman to shed blood but caused great pain similar to arthritis for the woman of twenty three years.

Dr. Lancester heaved a great sigh at the sleeping form. He was asked to create a monster. He could not create a monster but he created something close. A person trapped in a distasteful life. He feared for her soul once the Boss was done with his test subject and went on to creating his more vicious army and tossed this woman-bee hybrid to the dust.

He shook the woman awake and she looked at him with such scorn and fright it made him want to wince but he continued with his air of nervous anxiety.

"We must go," Dr. Lancester said.

The woman just stared at him. He realized in that moment he did not know her name. All he knew was age, gender and previous dwelling as well as a few variables that he felt pertinent to his research.

She had amber eyes, not an eye color you see every day- a statistic improbability.

"Where are we going?" she asked, her voice raspy having only been put in use in screeching, screaming or begging for mercy.

"To New York," Dr. Lancester said stiffly, his eye twitching greatly.

"We are going there?" she asked again.

"Yes."

"And I am being forced to go?"

"Yes."

"Well, I suppose I have nothing else to live for, have I not?" the girl asked. He supposed it was to be sarcastic but there was no trace of sarcasm in her voice.

...

"Subject 129 is in sight," an agent for Claw & Co. murmured into his communication device via his wristwatch.

"Very well," their boss said, "Sit and wait. The gala will happen in T minus six days and counting."

The agent watched in silence at the couple sitting in front of a window in a dimly lit restaurant. He watched as the blonde woman tilted her head back to laugh, blonde curls spilling down her back as the man sitting across from her smiled slightly, in awe. It was as if he was in awe of making such a woman laugh with nothing but his wit and mind at the ready.

The agent stood up and walked silently in the restaurant and looked the maitre di in the eye, "I have a reservation under Claw."

"Very well," the woman said showing him to his table and handing him a menu.

The Claw agent mused upon the leather bound menu of French delicacies, and foods written in different languages most likely served in the smallest possible portions. This restaurant was not what he had in mind for the blonde woman based upon what he read in her file.

He stared in front of him at the couple watching, listening and waiting.

"Favorite color," Bruce whispered.

"You already know that one," Charlotte protested.

"Yes, yes, your favorite color is green you have told me on numerous occasions, but Charlotte you must realize that I already know much about you," Bruce said, defending his honor.

Charlotte smiled, "Well, dates are normally getting to know one's partner while seeking the hopes that something romantic will ensue."

"Hm," Bruce pondered, "That shouldn't be a problem for us correct?"

"How so, Dr. Banner?" Charlotte asked raising an eyebrow playfully mocking him.

"I believed my affections to be obvious," Bruce said taking Charlotte's hand in his from across the table, "I had thought that romantic actions were already in action from the moment we first met."

"The moment we first met?" Charlotte asked.

"Yes," Bruce said, "I was quite fond of you, however, most likely not romantic at the time. I found you enchanting to say the least. You didn't seem afraid of me. Also, I have always been partial to blondes."

"I did look up to you after reading about your accident," Charlotte nodded, "And it helped you greatly that the shirt you were wearing did wonders to your looks. So we had the first step down: physical attractions."

"Going into the sciences of romance, Dr. Carlson?" Bruce questioned.

"Of course, a scientist at the esteem of myself," Charlotte said placing a hand on her own chest fluttering her eyes, "Must always go through the step by step procedure in experimentations."

"Well then, if we're looking at love through chemicals and compounds, I say we are well suited," Bruce said with a nod.

"How so?"

"Both are scientists, both are quite quiet, we both grow annoyed with Tony and can only handle him in small doses, both of us help Steve the most in becoming 'modernized' and we cannot forget our double lives," Bruce said with an eye brow raised.

"Ah yes, the adventures in dating staring the Hulk and Bird Girl," Charlotte said sarcastically.

"Bird Girl?" Bruce questioned, "You know Tony has enlisted Clint and Steve in finding you a super hero name. Bird Girl should suffice."

"If you tell him that and that becomes my nickname, I swear Bruce," Charlotte said holding a hand in the air.

"What?" Bruce said.

Charlotte leaned towards him giving Bruce (an unknowingly the Claw agent) a teasing glimpse of her cleavage, "That would mean no more dates."

"A tragedy," Bruce breathed, "I will not say a word."

"I think," Charlotte whispered taking a sip of wine (both had consumed their fair share of the liquid courage), looking at Bruce through her eyelashes, "This restaurant is way out of the pay grade that Tony offers us."

Bruce snickered, "For a billionaire philanthropist he certainly skimped out on our paychecks."

Charlotte giggled around her wine glass looking down at the food both she and Bruce had consumed that was twice her paycheck total. She didn't care however.

"Se la vie," Charlotte said waving her hand in the air nudging Bruce's hand holding hers when their waitress walked by.

"Are you ready for the check?" she asked.

Bruce started to pull his wallet out when the waitress stopped him, "I meant the paper. Your meal has already been paid for."

"By who?" Charlotte asked.

"Tony Stark," the waitress sighed, her eyes glazing over.

Charlotte sent a wide eyed stare at Bruce who merely smirked, "Big Brother is watching us."

...

A young woman with black hair and strangely colored eyes walked into the restaurant. She spotted a man sitting by himself at a two person table staring intently at the couple laughing in front of him.

She walked over and sat down in front of him. The man's eyes flickered towards her.

"Agent," she nodded.

He nodded towards her.

"Is that the target?" she asked staring down at the menu.

The agent nodded in affirmation.

"After this gala, your boss will let me go," the woman asked.

The agent nodded again. No he will not, he thought smirking internally, you are his forever.

"Very well," she said drawing her wrist bearing a wristwatch and bruises towards her mouth, "Target affirmed."

* * *

Dun Dun DUN!

On a less suspensfull side note: what did you think?


	17. Chapter 17

**Author's Note:**

**So completely and utterly sorry for the immense delay. I feel so bad. And the worst part of it is that I don't have a good excuse. And the fact this is a short chapter. I'm sorry please don't throw things at me. I'll try and get another chapter uploaded by Friday.**

**I'm sorry! Please review, and favorite and follow the story!**

**Enjoy the new chapter!**

*****Hopeful face ^.^*****

* * *

17.

One month passed since Bruce suggested that Charlotte honed her abilities as a half human half bird hybrid. Throughout the course of that month, improvements have been made. If Charlotte thought hard enough she could bring on the change, but it wouldn't be as instantaneous as a change induced during an adrenaline rush.

She remembered the first time she had 'summoned' a transformation. Boy did the after-effects hurt like a bitch.

..Flashback..

"Bruce, it's not working," Charlotte groaned.

Bruce walked over to her, "It's okay."

"It's not okay," Charlotte said, tearing up slightly, "If I can't do this, I'll never be able to control this stupid thing."

Bruce saw the tears coming and gave her a hug, "I don't think you want it hard enough that's why you won't transform."

"How much more can I want it?" Charlotte asked twisting out Bruce's arms.

She ran a hand through her hair. Usually she wore her hair up in a ponytail, bun or a braid but today she wore it down and her curls were going absolutely every. Bruce gave her a look of mischief when he took one of the corkscrew curls and pulled it.

Charlotte batted him away. He held his arms open again and she sighed going back into his embrace.

"You're not going to get it right away," Bruce said, she could literally feel his eyes rolling, "It's going to take more practice."

Charlotte pulled her eyes and planted her fists on her hips, "I can do this."

She flashed him a smile and shut her eyes in concentration.

...

It took her another two weeks before she could sprout wings on command. But she could cue the sonic scream as Tony dubbed it whenever she wanted without the transformation.

...

Charlotte's eyes were wide as she felt her shoulder blades move, attached to a pair of heavy, feathery wings. She stared at Bruce who studied her wings. Tony just smirked and started a slow clap working up faster and faster as he strolled out of their lab room.

Bruce stared off as Tony went, "How does it feel?"

"Like this should have been harder," Charlotte said crossing her arms and folding her wings behind her back.

Bruce rolled her eyes and sighed, "It still might be hard but at least you got the sonic scream down."

"Oh my god stop calling it that," Charlotte said putting her hand on her head, "That is not going to be a thing. I swear I will tear Tony a new one if he makes that my trademark or something."

"Next thing you know we'll be calling you Sonic Bird," Bruce said with a small chuckle.

Charlotte glared at him, "That's not funny on any planet."

...

It was still hard but Charlotte refused to dwell on it. Bruce's awkward jokes helped. But it didn't matter that she could summon her transformation at will, the after affects still hurt. Her back ached, she was probably going to get arthritis in her back when she was older, her vision was still horrible after the transformation-she had found her special glasses which helped but only as much as it did before and now her throat felt funny after a long time of using her 'sonic scream' and she started losing her voice for a little bit after each transformation.

Oh and she still had that full back tattoo of a pair of freaking eagle wings.

But that was all in the past. It didn't matter she always tried to reassure and remind herself not to overanalyze the situation. Then she realized that she reminded herself this multiple times throughout her daily life. Which led her to believe she needed professional help.

She told this to Annabelle but her younger sister just laughed at her. Annabelle reassured her it was natural for people to overanalyze things. For example, she had said, I overanalyze my relationship with William.

(William, apparently, was the chivalrous, Shakespearean speaking guy in her pottery class. The mysterious Brit finally had a name)

Whether or not we're a thing yet, or if we're still just friends, Annabelle had fretted pacing across Charlotte's apartment one weekend, It's a problem.

Charlotte had told her to fix the problem by inviting him to the Gala.

She snorted thinking how if Anna was going to meet Bruce, she wanted to meet this mysterious man who was the source of Annabelle's monogamous affection.

Her invitation, verified by Tony, was why Annabelle was freaking out in the bedroom of her apartment right now. Charlotte had been ready. The Gala was tonight at some fancy hotel Charlotte would never be able to afford, even if she never spent anything vicariously-only spending on the necessities; hell if she never spent money on anything, she'd never afford it.

But here she was. Sitting on the couch her parents gave her once she graduated college.

"Annabelle, I'm sure you look fine," Charlotte called through the apartment with an eye roll.

"Easy for you to say, you don't need to impress anyone, you already got the man," Annabelle screeched, "I haven't. This is the point of me even going to the Gala."

"Oh yes," Charlotte started sarcastically, "Not to honor your sister for her selfless, self sacrificing, supernatural acts and basic forms of heroism she did for the safety of this city against a psychopathic alien, God criminal person."

"Nothing you said makes sense," Annabelle called, "But I think I get the gist. And you get it, you were seventeen and wanted to impress a boy once."

"Eighteen," Charlotte whispered looking down at her newly painted nails.

She smirked softly, her baby sister is growing up. Charlotte stood up smoothing the soft material of her navy blue cocktail dress. She walked into her room catching her sister staring at herself in Charlotte's mirror.

"Anna," Charlotte said, sing-song, "Don't worry you look beautiful."

"What do you want, Charly?" Annabelle said.

"Just watching my little sister dress up," Charlotte said, "I never saw any of your prom pictures, so let me have this moment."

But in all seriousness, Annabelle was extremely beautiful. She straightened her blonde hair and the red dress she had on brightened her blue eyes. She vaguely reminded Charlotte of Steve Rogers, the adorable Captain America. Oh Steve Rogers. She gave an extremely long lesson to him about how to use a cell phone. It was pretty brutal and she had never done that kind of thing before.

"How do I look?" Annabelle asked blinking up at her innocently.

"Like she finally has a date with the boy she's been making moony eyes at for the past months," Charlotte said smiling at her through the mirror.

Anna let out a small laugh, "It's not a date but I appreciate the jest."

...

Damn.

That was the thought going through Charlotte's head. Everything she looked at. Damn.

The tablecloths were made of silk. Damn. Imported from Italy one of the waiters had informed her in a slightly snobbish tone as if he could sniff out the fact she wasn't a part of the 1%. Well, Charlotte thought, neither was he.

There were large gold chandeliers hanging from the high ceiling lighting the dining area brightly. Damn.

Waiters were brining in food and people were pouring in in the dozens and thirties of people. Dignitaries from all over the country, the world even were coming in. Not just important people in New York. The Avengers were worldwide, apparently. Director Fury walked in in his trademark leather trench coat thing, dressed in all black and an eye patch, looking incredibly out of place. So S.H.I.E.L.D. was here that put the level of importance in this gala at a much higher rank than just honoring the Avengers. Damn.

But then Bruce walked into the Gala room in a full on suit. Damn.


	18. Chapter 18

**Author's Note:**

**New Chapter!**

**Thanks for the Favorites, Follows and Reviews!**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

18.

Charlotte felt her breath catch in her throat as she watched Bruce get stopped by a man with salt and pepper cropped hair and a striking woman with black hair. She watched as his mouth moved into a smile and almost melted. Her front tooth nibbled the bottom of her lip as she watched him stuff his hands into his trouser pockets.

Those hands, so...capable.

Capable of going through a rigorous experiment. Steady, able to pour highly reactive acid into a separate beaker, and definitely useful in activities outside of the scientific spectrum.

"You need to take a cool shower already, Charly?" a sarcastic voice chided behind her.

Charlotte jumped and spun around. Tony was standing there behind her with a shit eating grin with Pepper rolling her eyes next to him.

"Cute, Stark, real cute," Charlotte said taking a champagne flute from one of the passing waiters with a confused but grateful nod.

Charlotte took a sip from the glass waiting for Bruce to finish talking and come over to where they were standing.

"So, is the little Carlson here as well?" Tony asked, "She better I had to pull some strings for not one but two tickets."

"Please Tony, you know I would have had Pepper do it for you if you said no," Charlotte said rolling her eyes, "Don't act like it was back breaking work. But she is coming, she's waiting for her date-who apparently isn't her date or is...it's very complicated. They're artists."

Pepper snorted and nodded in agreement.

"So when are Natasha and Clint getting here?" Charlotte asked.

"They're already here," Tony said pointing them out.

"Oh, I didn't even notice them come in," Charlotte said with a small laugh, "And Steve is over there."

Charlotte waved the super soldier over to their group. He looked mildly overwhelmed at all the attention that was being placed on him. Especially from the females and a couple of males at this party. Charlotte didn't blame him, he was the epitome of what America saw as 'hot'. He had the whole quiet jock with a secretive sensitive side, everything teenage girls dream of having in a boyfriend. Hell, they make romantic comedies dedicated to this kind of thing.

Bruce came to the group when Steve did, "Nice turn out."

"Yeah, the ambassador of some European country is over there talking with a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent," Tony said nodding his head towards two men in sharp suits talking intensely at one another.

"I wonder how Thor's doing back in his home planet," Charlotte mused.

"Thor said he was coming wanting to take the chance for a feast in our honor," Tony said, "He's always wanted to compare Midgardian feasts to the ones he has back on Asgard, apparently."

"How nice?" Charlotte said linking arms with Bruce.

Tony shrugged and turned Pepper towards the bar. Steve had his hands stuffed in his pocket.

"Go on Steve," Charlotte urged, "Mingle a little."

Steve stared up at her innocently and shrugged, "It's different talking with people now, I have less in common to talk to them about."

Charlotte felt so bad for Steve. When she first came into S.H.I.E.L.D. she didn't know his story. But to be asleep for 70 years then wake up and everything he knew was gone and changed had to be awful. I mean to wake up and realize touch screen technology was not just a fantasy or sci-fi mumbo jumbo, but something the common man could have must have been extremely confusing.

She watched the spangled man walk back over to his corner to survey the room.

"Did I tell you that you look beautiful?" Bruce whispered, drawing his arms around her.

She felt his chin on her shoulder and smiled feeling him nuzzle into the space between her neck and shoulder, "You didn't tell me this."

"Well, I am now," Bruce said softly.

"Thank you," Charlotte whispered with a smile, "You have no idea how long it took me to find a dress that looked good and didn't expose my entire back or at least the top part."

"You'd look pretty either way," Bruce said.

"Thank you but I don't think many of this dignitaries and distinguished people would have approved of such risqué attire and vulgar body art," Charlotte said in a fake posh British accent pointing her nose in the air.

Bruce chuckled softly, "Is Annabelle coming?"

"She should have been here with her date or friend person," Charlotte said craning her neck while staying in Bruce's hold, "I wonder what's keeping her."

"Greetings Midguardians," an accented voice boomed behind Charlotte and Bruce.

Bruce released his hold opting to slide an arm around her waist instead of holding her to him. Thor walked in in all of his 'Asguardian' regalia, basically his armor that he wore to the battle that had everyone had seen on the television. This called a lot of attention from a lot of the attendees of this Gala.

"My good friends," Thor said clapping both Charlotte and Bruce on their shoulders.

"Hello Thor," Charlotte and Bruce said.

"How did you get here?" Charlotte asked intrigued.

"The Allfather used the same power he did to send me here before the battle," Thor said.

Charlotte nodded, intrigued but all she could think of was that if Thor was a Norwegian God, why did he have a vaguely Australian accent. She had never been to Norway or known anyone Norwegian but she was sure they didn't sound Australian. Damn, she was uncultured.

"Charly," Annabelle said dragging a man behind her, "Sorry I'm late-this one was nervous."

Charlotte looked behind Annabelle's shoulder at an extremely handsome, tall-slightly gangly looking man in his early twenties with curly blondish brown hair and a nervous looking smile. Charlotte looked back at Annabelle and raised an eyebrow with a smirk before focusing back on Annabelle's source of infatuation.

"Hello, William I believe?" Charlotte said holding out her hand to him.

"Hello, I am William," the man said in a charming British accent. Annabelle was right, he did make it seem like he was reading straight out of a Shakespeare play.

"Well, it's nice to meet you William," Charlotte said with a smile, "This is Bruce." The two men shook hands, "And Thor," Charlotte gestured behind her and William gave a wave to which Thor returned with a serious nod, "And Anna's told me a lot about you."

Annabelle stared at Charlotte with shock and she gave her younger sister a smirk.

William laughed slightly, "Annabelle has told me a lot about you, too."

"Oh I'm blushing," Charlotte said, "Well I'll leave you to it, enjoy yourself-no drinking Annabelle I'm watching you."

Anna rolled her eyes and directed William towards a table. Charlotte watched them walk away before turning to Bruce, "He looks like a nice guy."

"There was something very familiar about him," Thor said with a slight smile, "What has your sister said about him?"

...

The Asgardian god Thor surveyed the Midgardian set up. It was much less lavish and impressive then the ones back in Asgard, but it was nice nonetheless. This was probably a party of high terms by Midgardian standards.

He listened as the blonde woman, Miss Charlotte converse with who she assumed to be her younger sister by the close resemblance the two shared with each other, something he never shared with Loki. Probably something he should have caught sooner. But he digressed.

Thor had informed Director Fury that he wanted to attend the Gala for research. Since he would be a part of this team, these Avengers the Midgardians had conducted, it seemed plausible. Let the alien entity come and experience, compare, note the planet he was now a part of protecting.

But the Allfather wouldn't waste power on just one mealy trip to Midgard with no purpose whatsoever, not with the Bifrost still under construction.

He was here, not to just go to this Gala-technically in his honor, to check up on the Allfather's plan. To see if everything is running swimmingly.

"There was something very familiar about him," Thor started needing some more information, "What has your sister said about him?"

"Well," Miss Charlotte started holding onto Dr. Banner tighter and with a smile, "Apparently, he's in her pottery class, very gentlemanly, and talks like he should star in a Shakespearian play."

"How interesting," Thor said with a slight smile.

"Apparently, their relationship is very complicated, full of mixed signals and whatnot," Charlotte said with a shrug.

"And you certainly made it seem quite straight forward," Dr. Banner said teasingly.

"Payback from her first introduction to you," Charlotte said with a shrug, "I could have been a lot worse."

Thor watched the two banter playfully before waving to signal his leave. Everything seems to be going well. But he'd have to stay longer. Survey this pottery class and his relationship with the young Miss Carlson.

...

The dinner portion of the Gala went well Charlotte thought. The Avengers-and Pepper-all sat together like they were some kind of clique in high school. It was not obvious at all who they were (sarcasm). Sitting together like that, one could spot the differences easily. Steve looked innocent and bright, Clint and Natasha were surveying the area subtly, Bruce was concentrated on his meal and Thor was laughing heartily with Tony as he stuffed his face. Pepper was talking with Charlotte in between courses, laughing about this and that.

Thought she kept a close eye on Annabelle who looked like she was having a good time. She kept twirling her hair around a finger and batting an eyelash at the man she was sitting with.

Charlotte pushed her seat out, "I have to go to the bathroom," she told Bruce who shot her a small smile in return.

She walked out of the dining room toward the bathrooms. But right before she opened the door a hand grabbed her wrist.

"Hi," said a woman's voice

Charlotte turned slowly seeing the woman Bruce was talking to earlier. The one that came in with the man with salt and pepper hair. She relaxed.

"Hello," Charlotte said with a smile, "What can I do for you?"

"Are you Dr. Carlson?" the woman asked with a soft smile.

"Yes I am," Charlotte said, now wondering what the woman could want.

"Good," the woman said.

She flicked her wrist quickly and black, pointed...things came out of the flesh of her forearm, extending down past her wrist.

"Holy, mother of..." Charlotte said stumbling backward against the door.

She had a slight hope that the door was a push one and she could hide in the bathroom and make noise till someone came but it was a damn pull door. The woman with black hair advanced towards her and Charlotte screamed.

...

Bruce laughed quietly at something Tony said when they all heard a loud screeching noise. It was high pitched and ear piercingly loud. The noise caused all the wineglasses near the exit to the bathroom all broke simultaneously. Bruce shot out of his seat followed by Natasha and Clint.

"That's Charlotte's sonic scream," Tony said looking towards the bathroom.

Bruce started his way towards the exit followed by Clint, Natasha, Tony and other people but he stopped caring. All that his beating pulse told him was the Charlotte was in trouble. She had screamed, she had sonic screamed.

Stopping in front of the woman's restaurant, Bruce looked down at Charlotte kneeling in her pretty dress towards the woman he was talking with earlier, what was her name? It didn't matter.

"What happened Charly?" Annabelle asked, genuinely worried, clinging to the man, William, she brought with to the Gala.

It occurred to Bruce that Annabelle never seen Charlotte's power before. So she just thought all the glasses broke from some kind of mysterious noise, she didn't realize her sister made that noise. But he didn't say anything about it.

Charlotte looked up at the group of people that had crowded around her and the unconscious woman with the crazy arm daggers.

Charlotte held up one of her arms with one of the black pointy things protruding out of her flesh. She and the rest of the group watched as the black thing was being _sucked_ into her arm.

"I think we have a problem," Charlotte said in a slightly hoarse voice.


	19. Chapter 19

**Author's Note:**

**New Chapter!**

**Sorry for the delay but thank you for reviewing, favoriting and following!**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

19.

"There are more of you?" Tony Stark said.

The Avengers and their dates and hanger-ons (AKA Annabelle and William) left the gala immediately after Charlotte's little "spat" with a mystery mutant. Thor had grabbed the unconscious girl, lugging her over his shoulder like a large human shaped fish and brought her with them to the tower in that fashion.

Steve led the group as they emerged from a group of Stark's town cars looking behind his shoulders once in a while to make sure the unconscious girl was still unconscious and unharmed in Thor's meaty grip.

Annabelle grabbed Charlotte by the forearm and tugged her back as the group continued forward.

"Charly," Annabelle whispered, "Are you okay?"

"Yes, I'm okay," Charlotte said with a soft smile.

"I didn't know you could do that," Annabelle said, "Which is kind of stupid because I saw you on the TV during the Battle of Manhattan. I mean those alien robot things don't just fall out of the sky on their own accord, I just didn't expect it to be that powerful."

Charlotte just smiled and listened. The group had already walked into the Tower while the two Carlson sisters stood outside the doors.

"I mean, Charly," Annabelle said looking up slightly at her older sister who was taller than her by two inches, "You broke half the glasses in the big gala with one scream."

"It is dangerous," Charlotte said with a nod, "But Bruce has been with me working on controlling it so I can call it, suppress it but sometimes it comes out. But when it first happened, I wasn't being insecure and soft spoken or even modest about how volatile I was after the first transformation. And I wasn't being sarcastic when I said that Mom and Dad were right to keep you away from me. You were ten, I could have killed you with one mistake."

"Wow, that's a lot to process," Annabelle said widening her eyes, "Even second handed. Sorry you had to go through that alone."

Charlotte shrugged, "It happens. Wait how overwhelming it seems after I grow wings in front of you."

Annabelle snorted before pulling her older sister into a hug, "Do you know why that girl tried to attack you?"

Remembering what had happened caused Charlotte to freeze up. It wasn't climatic or anything, there wasn't any dramatic speech about a plan to kill her, destroy her, harvest her organs so with her immense knowledge or criminals (derived from numerous hours spent watching crime dramas), she figured that this girl couldn't possibly be the head, she was most likely working for someone.

Her mind flashed quickly to Claw & Co. and that insignia that she was sure she remembered seeing during that time where she was being experimented upon.

She tried to remember. It was hard when she had spent most of her recovery time trying to forget everything that had happened to her. But she remembered a bald men with tinted goggles and all black lab attire. She didn't see anyone like that but she did see a man in a suit with the Claw & Co. logo.

"Numerous reason are going through my head," Charlotte murmured.

"Well, let's give your big ol' brain a break and get into the tower," Annabelle said.

Charlotte smiled slightly, she was handling this a lot better than Charlotte thought she would. She thought Annabelle would freak, call her a freak and run screaming. But that wasn't the case, she handled that well.

"Onward," Charlotte said.

...

The woman with the forearm dagger things was lying on one of Charlotte's lab tables with a throw pillow under her head. Steve was staring at her intently as if he was waiting to spring into attention at any moment. Bruce was running vitals and Tony was testing her blood. William was sitting in the corner, in one of Tony's numerous spinning chairs looking immensely uncomfortable. He knew that all the men (and Charlotte) were part of the Avenger's so that might be one of the factors, the fact there was an unconscious girl on a lab table or the fact that Thor was just staring at the poor guy so intensely Charlotte was surprised lightning bolts weren't escaping from the God's eyes and igniting the 21 year old.

Then there was Steve who was also staring intensely at the unconscious woman, not moving at all. Charlotte studied him, noticing that he was the only one still wearing his full suit. Guess he really didn't leave her side yet.

"Charly," Bruce called her looking up from the scan in front of him, "We need a sample of your blood."

Annabelle bit her lip and walked over to William. The blonde Brit loped a gangly arm around her waist and pulled Annabelle to his lap. Annabelle must have felt Thor's gaze because she looked to the side and widened her eyes to the large blonde, muscular man glowering at her. Thor's eyes widened in surprise and looked away from the petite blonde.

...

Thor turned quickly away from William and Annabelle to look at Lady Dr. Carlson walking towards Dr. Banner and Mr. Stark with her forearm held out in front of her. He watched as the good doctor stuck the young mortal woman's arm with a pointy metal object, a needle apparently, and red liquid was collected. He quickly handed it towards Mr. Stark who placed it into a scanner.

"JARVIS read this sample and compare it with the other three," Mr. Stark said to his computer.

"Yes, sir," the computerized British voice answered.

Charlotte looked confused, the other three?

Bruce looked up at Charlotte, "I put my blood in the scanner as well as Steve's. We wanted to compare different levels of radiation from the gamma bomb between yours and mine and this woman's. I'm am 99% sure the radiation that caused our... defects was used on this woman but on a much smaller scale but Steve wanted to make sure there wasn't any other outside factors-such as the serum."

"But the serum only enhances what a normal human already has," Charlotte said furrowing her brows, "This woman attacked me with these things from her arms that normal humans should not have there."

"We have to check everything," Steve said from his position near the woman and gave a strangled laugh, "I mean people now just walk around with small telephone/encyclopedia things that fit in their pocket and connect everyone with the entire world. Anything is possible."

"You mean cell phones?" Annabelle asked her face showing confusion.

Charlotte nodded slightly at Anna and she bowed her head leaning against William slightly. She smiled softly. Annabelle didn't understand Steve's predicament. She didn't understand that Steve was asleep for 70 years and missed the rise of technology and Windows and Apple and computers in general.

"Right," Tony said slowly.

"Match is found in Test A and C with the questioned test object, Test B is not a match," JARVIS's computer voice interrupted.

"So it's not the super soldier serum," Bruce said with a shrug, "It was, indeed, the radiation from the military gamma bomb."

Steve's innocent face hardened slightly but he nodded nonetheless. Charlotte's eyes narrowed wanting to know what was the super solder's damage. They had found a reason for the woman's mutant daggers.

"You said earlier," Charlotte started walking close to Bruce and Tony's, "That you wanted to compare our blood because of the differences in radiation levels. Are you saying she has more radiation in her than we do?"

"No, I'm saying she has less," Bruce said, "According to the reviews in her vitals she has at least 10% less radiation than you do."

"How could that be?" Tony asked thinking about answering his own question the moment it came from his mouth.

"She was injected with a concentrated form of the radiation gases," Charlotte said taking a pencil and leaning over to write formulas on a scrap piece of paper.

"In Bruce's accident, the bomb was not even close to finished and extremely reactive, radioactive and toxic and the amount of radiation that entered his body was extremely high-which led to the Hulk-obviously," Charlotte started, scribbling madly, "In my accident, the bomb was tweaked. I had modified it to make less radioactive gases and less leakage. I also used some of my own research to compartmentalize the energy without the toxins-which is why I didn't become she-Hulk."

"Yeah, you became she-Bird," Tony said with a snort, nodding at her reasoning before freezing, "Can we call you that?"

"No, Charlotte said walking over to her section of the lab.

She reached under the table of her desk for a secret drawer which held a key. She took the key to unlock the filing cabinet and reached in for the S.H.I.E.L.D. issued laptop.

"What are you doing?" Steve asked.

"I'm going to find the unconscious woman on my lab table's identification," Charlotte said already turning on the laptop.

She typed in the woman's features, walked over to the woman on the table, pressing one of her fingers on the finger scanner, and pressed enter waiting for the results to come in.

"And what exactly are you going to do with her identification?" Tony asked.

"I'm going to find her dental records and question the people around her to try and find how this woman came in contact with the radiation that caused Bruce and my defects," Charlotte said with an eye roll.

The lap top gave a ding and Charlotte read the match's name, "Sophia Manner (**A/N: I don't think I gave her a name yet, but I'm not positive. Tell me if I already did.)**, 25 years old, and a middle school teacher."

"How the hell did she go from middle school teacher to dagger mutant?" Tony asked.

"Well whatever happened, she's one of us now," Bruce said with a sigh.


	20. Chapter 20

**Author's Note:**

**Next Chapter is here!**

**Keep commenting, rating and favoriting.**

**Enjoy!**

************Kind of Late Response to thegirlwholived**

**The wasp girl's arm daggers are poisonous: a special type of poison. It depends on the intensity which we will learn about later. One level can render a man dead and another level can make them unconscious. :)**

* * *

20.

"I don't think we can just expect her to be one of us," Tony said apprehensively staring down at the unconscious girl, "She tried to attack Charlotte. I don't think she is going to wake up after the woman she attacked made her go unconscious without touching her and think: Hey why don't I join the Avengers?"

Charlotte rubbed her face and tried to hold back a long sigh of frustration at Tony, "That's not what Bruce meant. He wasn't talking about the Avengers in general, but Bruce and my little pity party of two."

Bruce smiled lightly as he went back to moderating the woman's, Sophia's, vitals.

"He meant that, since the radiation used to mutate this woman-Sophia, was similar to the radiation exposure Bruce and I were accidently exposed to, she would join our little party of people forced to be mutated then used as weapons or aids or government lab rats," Charlotte said looking at the woman around her age, "This is either really easy or really hard for her. We don't know her story."

"So what will become of the afflicted lady?" Thor asked in his strange Australian accent that didn't make sense in a Norse God (God, she really need to get that explained).

Charlotte licked her lips thinking about what to do, "Here's what we're going to do. I was the target, so I'm going to stay here. JARVIS will monitor what goes on in the room which you will all view in the floor above, so if something goes astray you can be here to work it out."

Bruce looked concerned, Tony nodded and began to set up surveillance, and Annabelle stared at her older sister.

Annabelle stood up from William's lap and walked towards her sister, "You're going to stay here, with that woman who tried to attack you? I get that you understand what's wrong with everything about this whole testing thing and radiation scheme but that doesn't mean you should try and reason with a woman who tried to kill you or at least severely maim you."

"Anna, please, I think I can reason with her, at least talk with her," Charlotte said, "She has to have seen the Battle of Manhattan. She has to know who I am, I need to find out who wants me dead or captured. She tried to get me, not anyone else."

Annabelle's lip trembled and Charlotte's eyes wanted. Ever since she was five that tremble was Annabelle's tell that she was going to cry, sob even. Charlotte didn't have time to be a big sister, she could after, but right now it was life or death. She wanted to be a big sister to Annabelle, she really did, but she wouldn't do a good job if she was distracted by the prospect of death.

Luckily, this William character stepped up from his chair and whispered soothing words in Annabelle's ear. She closed her eyes and leaned against William.

"Okay, but you need to come right back home when you're done," Annabelle ordered still looking like she was going to cry.

"I promise, I'll be there as soon as I can," Charlotte said, holding onto her sister's forearm reassuringly, "Stay with William, don't leave the apartment, and don't talk to anyone strange looking."

"The usual?" Annabelle said with a slight smile.

"The usual," Charlotte said with a smile.

She watched William walk her youngest sister out of Stark Tower or Avengers Tower she didn't know. Her only truly coherent thought was that she needed to interrogate this William character. To protect her. She distinctly remembered Annabelle in the throes of anxiety over this man mentioned he could potentially be a rapist or a serial killer. But then again, that was in the beginning of their apparently three month relationship. Two months of skirting around each other, but a month of actual dating.

And Thor was staring at him pretty intensely. She wondered if Norse gods had some kind of power that let them read minds. Dammit Charlotte, you aced a mythology class in college, now you gods.

"Where are Clint and Natasha, by the way?" Charlotte asked.

The two master assassins were with them when Charlotte had screamed and left the gala with them but they never made it to Tony's car.

"With Fury, they're questioning the people at the gala," Tony voice sounded from behind his computers.

Charlotte nodded before she started to give orders.

"Bruce, I'll take over vitals until she wakes, Thor follow Bruce to the next floor, Tony how are we on surveillance," Charlotte said with her hands on her hips. At this moment she remembered she was still wearing her cocktail dress.

Tony gave her a thumbs up before imputing a few more commands into his computer and JARVIS's voice sounded with a, "Are you prepared Dr. Carlson?"

"Yes JARVIS I am," Charlotte said with a cheeky grin watching the two scientist and a Norse god walk towards the elevator.

She turned towards the woman on her lab table and studied Steve watching her. It was easy to forget the muscular blonde man since he didn't say much during the planning. He didn't say much in general (when they were in civilization) so it wasn't anything new. But the fact he had not volunteered any ideas to the planning process was new. Captain America was the unspoken leader of their rag tag gang.

"You okay with the plan, Steve?" Charlotte asked softly approaching the other side of the lab bench so that she was facing him, even with the barrier of an unconscious woman and a table.

"She's going to wake up and not know where she is or what happened," Steve muttered staring down at her.

"Yes, but she got herself into that situation," Charlotte said trying to be gentle with the man, maybe he drank something at the gala that made him all irrational.

"Yes I understand," Steve said.

Charlotte felt for the man. He had been asleep for seventy years. Missed all kinds of great technological advances. First man on the moon, the cell phone, Apple and Windows and computers in general. The man saw a city he grew up in and thought he knew and was completely changed. Looking at him, she realized why old people were so grumpy about change. It was...bad on the mind, bad on the soul. **(A/N: That's something my grandfather always says when we use cell phones)**

"She's not going to completely confused when she wakes up," Charlotte said, "I'm going to help her find her footing, hopefully."

When she said that, she didn't just mean it for the Sophia, the unconscious woman on her table, but for Steve as well. She was willing to help the man out. Steve nodded and headed for the stairs, disregarding the elevator completely, he probably needed time to think. She wondered if he got her double meaning.

...

Her cell phone buzzed in her clutch after two hours of staring at the same vital signs of the same woman sitting in the same uncomfortable chair. For two hours. For a billionaire, Tony's chairs were sucky. She needed to discuss that with him.

She took her phone out of the clutch and read the text from Bruce.

It's been two hours, should we start devising a plan B? -B

Charlotte grimaced.

No, I'm going to wait it out. My file says that my scream on low can render a large man unconscious for an hour. I don't remember how loud I screamed but I do know that this woman is not a large man. Tell Tony to give it time. -C

Charlotte felt her mouth flicker into a smile, she knew Tony was getting antsy. He didn't like staying in one place for long. Hopefully Clint and Natasha were done with Fury so she could see the results of her questioning. And maybe Pepper should be up there controlling Tony. The slim strawberry blonde woman corralled the press in order to get away from the gala in record time.

The woman in questioned groaned and she looked at the computer webcam, knowing the boys were watching from all angles and smiled.

Charlotte stood up and walked over to the woman. She walked over and watched as the woman opened her weirdly colored amber eyes. The only thing she could think about was how rare it was to get two recessive genes to create amber eyes. Which led her to think that maybe her parents had those wonderful, but weirdly colored eyes or she was really lucky.

Looking at her eyes, she didn't miss the woman's fire burning once she set them on Charlotte's face.

"Now before you do anything rash, I just want you to know that I can knock you out without touching you again, so bear with me," Charlotte said holding her hands up.

The woman sat up, her feet not touching the ground, but she looked at Charlotte with a guarded expression.

"I just want to know who you work for and why you tried to stab me with your arm things," Charlotte asked.

"Why should I tell you?" the woman said. She flicked her wrist, unsheathing her arm things like the hidden arm blades in Assassin's Creed.

Charlotte took a defensive step back, "Why would you try and kill me, you don't even know me?"

"Wasn't trying to kill you blondie, I was trying to incapacitate you," the woman-Sophia started, "And I don't need to know you, it was a job."

"Sophia, I know who you are, at least a part of you," Charlotte said, "I know you were a middle school teacher, 25, and injected with a light form of radiation that went into your bloodstream. This form of radiation was toxic, but not in a lethal way. It was a form of radiation that caused mutation."

"Oh so you are going to experiment on me too, huh?" Sophia said, "Are you, Charlotte?"

Charlotte was slightly taken aback that SHE knew her name. It was a job, why did she know her name if it wasn't of import?

"I am the last person who would experiment on you," Charlotte said definitely, "You said 'too'. You have been through this before?"

Sophia gave her a cynical grin, "You said you were the last person who would experiment on me so have you experienced this before?"

"Yes," Charlotte said simply.

"Somehow I find that hard to believe," Sophia said with a sneer.

"How so," Charlotte responded with equal attitude, "You don't know my struggles, granted I do not know yours but that doesn't make you worse or better off than me."

Sophia snorted in disbelief. This woman wouldn't understand. Sophia had seen her at the gala, scoped her out as a prerequisite before contacting her at last. She saw what a good life this woman had. She was beautiful, all blonde and slim. She had family, the other blonde woman, slightly shorter with blue eyes, but they were related, Sophia could tell.

She learned from many parent teacher conferences that parents didn't always show up and it was better to be able to distinguish older siblings as opposed to parents or aunts/uncles.

And most importantly, this so called experimented woman had a relationship judging by how the other man-slightly older, brown haired and conflicted in some way, but utterly content in holding this woman in his arms for the time he did. She saw how he had stroked her hand with reassurance and how she responded with a kiss on the cheek.

Those interactions that man had on this seemingly afflicted woman hit Sophia hard. Pained her that she would no longer have these interactions.

She felt her spirit weaken, feeling as fragile as she did before coming across the country for this woman. Sophia then saw her steel herself in front of her so Sophia responded in kind.

"Who do you work for?" Charlotte asked again, stepping closer to the woman not caring about the black spikes that had emerged from her arms, it didn't matter anymore. She could cause more damage to her before Sophia had a chance to attack her.

"We want to help you," Charlotte, "If you want the help."

* * *

**What do you think? Will she accept their help?**

**Comment, Rate, Review.**


	21. Chapter 21

21.

"I don't want it," Sophia stated crossing her arms and turning away.

Charlotte rubbed her forehead, "Can you at least tell me why you want to kill me?"

"Who said anything about killing you?" Sophia asked her face twisting in disgust.

Charlotte stood there staring at the raven haired women wearing a satiny gold dress. The woman looked fine but Charlotte had been in her shoes. She understood what it felt like to think you have control then all of a sudden you don't. That feeling when you lose control was the worst. Charlotte was and this woman is now, a boiling pot of water. The water was on low, manageable and not done yet, but soon it would bubble over and spill.

And that spill could potentially cause someone to get burned. She had to know that she can't repress her emotions especially with their emotion-centric curse.

Charlotte bit her lip at the question Sophia posed, "You weren't going to kill me?"

"No," Sophia said drawing her eyebrows together before straightening them with a smug smirk, "Just to hurt you, maiming you was also allowed, then drag your unconscious body to the van we had out back and bring you back to our boss."

Charlotte's eyes widened and her upper lip curled up in disgust, "Well that sounds lovely. Why do you need me, because if it's important you could just ask."

"Cute," Sophia nodded, her smirk still in place, "But all I was called for was to capture you."

"That's so sad," Charlotte said shaking her head with a small smirk. She thought back to what Bruce had told her when she was the lowest part of the month when she still couldn't transform no matter how hard she tried and she just wanted to give up.

Apparently, too many tries without succeeding to transform caused her emotions to wreak havoc on her mental state. So after the sixth failed try, she was blubbering like an idiot, heart beating but not transforming and she looked up at Bruce and asked, "What is the point? I'm never going to get it right. I'm going to be saddled with this for the rest of my life, why does it matter if I use it or not?"

Her face was streaked with tears and she had crumpled onto the floor, her body racked with sobs. She looked up at him and he crouched down with the softest smile she had seen him make and wiped away her tears.

"I'm going to tell you something, someone once told me," Charlotte said taking a step towards the slightly younger woman, "You have powers for a reason. If you think you're using them right then so be it. Do you think you're using them right?"

Sophia stared at the curly blonde haired woman wearing a black cocktail dress and a cross yet nostalgic expression.

"So," Charlotte said starting to walk backwards, "I'm just going to let you here until we find out your employer."

"What?" Sophia asked scooting off the edge of the lab table, "Why can't I leave?"

Charlotte stood by the elevator, "Seriously? You think I'm just going to let you go so you can go back to your boss who wants me maimed or seriously injured. You wait here."

The elevator slid open, "Just want you to know," Charlotte called out before she stepped out of the lab room, "There are other options."

With a final smile Charlotte walked into the room and pressed the up button.

When the door finally closed she spoke, "JARVIS I need you to lock the lab room down completely and make the elevator password access only."

"Yes, Dr. Carlson," came the reply.

The elevator doors opened and Charlotte walked into the room above the one she was just in. The group of men she was with just an hour previous, joined by Natasha and Clint were hovering around a computer-probably the video security feed.

Tony looked up, "Are you out of your mind?"

Charlotte chuckled, she knew there would be at least one reaction like that. Confusion, slight outrage, a 'what do you think you're doing you fool'. But while Tony was just shaking his head in front of the video feed, his eyes alternating between her face with disbelief to the computer screen with confusion.

Charlotte shrugged, "It might work. I can see the eyes of a broken soul when I see one."

Bruce gave her a small smile which Charlotte returned, "Takes one to know one right?"

"Definitely," Charlotte said.

"I don't know," Tony said, "I have very little faith in the probability this will work."

"Where did the spangled man go?" Thor boomed looking around their immediate group.

Charlotte turned around not noticing the blonde man had snuck past her towards the not yet closed elevator. She spun back to look at the shocked faces, hers matching theirs to a T.

"Did we all seriously miss that?" Tony asked looking at the two assassins in particular.

"We're off duty," Clint said with a shrug.

"But," Tony stuttered, "That doesn't make any sense."

Charlotte saw Natasha smirk at Clint. And she understood. They wanted Steve to sneak by to talk to Sophia. They were assassins, used to direct questioning not waiting for things to fall into place. Probably they had more patience when they were quote on duty unquote. They probably wanted to get this over with, question the woman they were not affected by since they had already done their part with the questioning, and leave.

Charlotte walked over to the computer screens and leaned over a seated Bruce's shoulder to watch the live time footage.

She saw Steve, with his full suit still perfectly in place along with his hair, approach the woman with the mused raven hair and slightly dusty gold dress with a rip at the hem from the heels she had tripped over. Both looked like polar opposites. One blonde haired, one raven colored; innocent compared to underlying tension she had; calm and on edge. But both were lost souls like everyone else in the Avengers. That's how Charlotte knew she would ponder her offer because the Avengers was a team of superheroes that didn't see themselves as heroes, but as people who survived different circumstances that opened their eyes to the evils of the world. And they wanted to help.

Charlotte knew that Sophia has been exposed to her own evils. She still was.

...

Steve was nervous as the elevators slid open and the interior of the experimental lab filled his vision. His footsteps in were sharp and planned, his eyes fixed on the raven haired woman, Sophia.

Sophia saw a blonde haired blue eyed man that would have blended in with all the other men in the city, especially the upper crust but she knew this man. This was Captain America.

There was a slight tug on her guy. Mark loved Captain America. Sophia shook her head and sniffed, not now. She needed to get this job done. If she didn't. God she didn't know what to think.

* * *

**Author's Note (one on the bottom now!):**

**Not a long chapter but I'm having midterms right now and I'm freaking out because I can't math. So sorry...during Christmas break expect uploads!**

**Buttt...I will still be on Tumblr...because it takes less effort and the best procrastinating method.**

**So follow me on tumblr: !**

**Thanks for reviewing, favoriting and following. **


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